Summer of Love
by curlygirl5185
Summary: Bridging the gap between Season 4 and the highly anticipated Season 5. Here's what the gang's been up to since taking "The Leap." *This is my first official fic. Please be gentle but honest. **This is gonna be LOOOOOONG.
1. Introduction

A/N: This introduction is in a different style than the rest of the story. Ted will explain why at the end, but let me just quickly give you an idea of what to expect. This part is supposed to like the beginning of an episode, just short scenes to catch the viewer up. The rest of the piece takes the perspectives of each of the characters, in different groupings - Marshall/Lily, Ted, Barney/Robin. My vision is that each of those perspectives will have three parts (at least, that's how it's shaping up right now), which would bring the grand total to 10 chapters, including this one. We'll see how that goes! Enjoy!

**2030**

"_**The summer of 2009 was one of the strangest summers of my life**_**."**

"Dad. Seriously. Can we _please_ talk about something else for right now?"

"Yeah, I mean I have a _life_. I'll admit that you and your friends sound … well, awesome … but I really need a break. I feel like you've been talking FOR-EV-ER."

"_**Well kids, you're gonna have to wait a little while longer, because this is when the story gets interesting."**_

"_**Now, as I was saying …"**_

**2009**

"_**The summer of 2009 was one of the strangest summers of my life. It wasn't strange in a bad way, and if you had to put a label on it, the most straightforward one would be to call it a 'Summer of Change,' which it most certainly was. But looking back on it now, I think it's more correct to call it a 'Summer of Love.'**_

"_**You had old love, still burning, and endlessly igniting and subsiding and igniting again in a rhythmic cycle. Always under the constant presence of respect, adoration, and trust."**_

Marshall was sitting at his desk in GNB headquarters, sometime around lunch. His secretary buzzed through on the intercom, telling him he had a visitor. Smiling slyly, he said, "let her in."

Lily came bounding through the doorway, almost exploding with anticipation of seeing her Marshmallow in the middle of the day. At her side was a lunchbox.

"Here's your lunch, Marshall!"

"Lily, you are the BEST."

"You know summer is my favorite time of the year … because instead of giving lunch and recess to my students, I can bring lunch to my Marshmallow in person … then give him a little recess …"

"I LOVE SUMMER," Marshall exclaimed, enveloping Lily into a suggestive hug.

"_**You had new love, exploring itself for the first time. Full of promises, hope, perhaps with some apprehension underneath."**_

Ted was touring the Columbia University grounds for the first time, led by the Chairman of the Architecture Department, Dr. Glenn.

"So here is the main quad of Columbia University," Dr. Glenn said cordially as he and Ted walked through the sunny space.

"Just look at the expressive architecture of the surrounding buildings! They seem to highlight the strength and magnitude of the student body that enters this hallowed grounds, yet annotates the soft and supple intricacies of the knowledge that is shared here. It is simply beautiful," Ted philosophized.

"Yes yes, fascinating, isn't it? Now, let me show you your office."

Ted's left hand covered his heart and he sighed as he said breathlessly, "I'm in love."

"_**And then … there was whatever your Uncle Barney and Aunt Robin were doing …"**_

Barney and Robin were kissing passionately on Barney's couch. His hands were enveloping the sides of her face, thumbs circling her ears and his fingers resting softly in her hair. Robin, for her part, had her hands firmly on his lapels, pushing the suit jacket off of his shoulders, as Barney shrugged in an attempt to speed up the process.

-flash (cut scene to shortly in the future)-

Barney and Robin were lying next to each other in Barney's bed, staring straight up to the ceiling, reminiscent of _that night_. Barney's pillow was resting under his head, and the small blanket was shared between the two, concealing their nakedness, although only precariously retaining its position. Simultaneously they broke their gaze at the ceiling and looked at each other.

"Yeah so –"

"I'd better be –"

"You don't have to –"

"I'll give you a –"

They stopped their fumbling interspeak, and stared hard and passionately at each other for a moment. Their eyes burned into each other, then they both propelled themselves into another frenzied kiss. As suddenly as they started, they broke away from each other again. This time, their responses were in unison, as they scrambled to leave the bed:

"I'll see you later."

_**Now kids, it's impossible to tell this part of the story as the purely 3**__**rd**__** person narrator, because there was so much going on that I wasn't even aware of at the time. So I'm going to have to take Summer 09 one piece at a time, and explain what happened through the perspective of those who lived through it.**_

… **to be continued.**


	2. Marshall and Lily Part 1

**The Marshall and Lily Piece**

**Part 1**

Lily had been done with work for almost 2 weeks and she was going completely, out of her mind insane with boredom. There's only so much time a girl could spend painting. Especially when she could think of so many better uses of her time.

Memorial Day Sales

Start of Summer Blowouts

D-Day Commemorative Sales

Flag Day Sales

4th of July Extravaganzas

She'd held out through June because she was still working and preoccupied her time caring for her kindergarteners. And the pseudo-kindergarteners that were her friends (because, really – which of her friends were NOT emotionally stunted at around age 5?). So when she felt the itch to go shopping, she could deflect it with lesson plans, or giving advice to Barney about his love for Robin, or spending some quality bedroom time with Marshall. And if all else failed, there was always painting. Painting was her never-fail solution to the seduction of the sale.

Except right now. Right now, it was failing.

She glanced at the clock – 2:30pm. She'd wasted a large chunk of her day on a painting that had no direction and no inspiration beyond her mind-numbing boredom. Not even a dog would like it, she supposed.

What Lily needed was a distraction.

Hmmm, she contemplated, maybe Marshall could steal some time away from his desk to enjoy a little afternoon … delight. She hadn't visited him at work for the past 3 days. Not since they were almost caught in the act by Marshall's nosy secretary, who apparently forgot how to knock.

Perhaps they should have remembered to lock the door.

But no matter. The bimbo hadn't seen anything, and even if she had, there was an understanding between Lily and what's-her-name. When they'd first been introduced, Lily had taken her aside and marked her territory, ie: Marshall.

These were the things that Lily was thinking about as she walked from the subway to GNB headquarters that afternoon.

The security guard waved her in, immediately recognizing Lily's now familiar face. On the ride up, Lily's heart fluttered at the thought of the possibility of an office love-making session. That feeling never went away, even after ten years with Marshall, two of which were as a married couple.

She strode down the hallway to Marshall's office, greeting some of Marshall's more familiar co-workers. Lily knew that these guys gave Marshall a hard time about Lily's visits, but she didn't care. Mama needed some distraction from her demons.

Marshall's secretary (whose name Lily consciously chose not to remember, due to her skimpy work-wardrobe and bimbo-ish nature. Sidebar: Barney MUST have capitalized on that one at SOME point) stopped Lily before she reached Marshall's door.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Aldrin," she said in the sing-song voice of a barely pubescent school girl, further exemplifying her less than ample intellect. "Mr. Erickson just had an appointment start about 10 minutes ago, and he said that he _could not_ be disturbed."

"Well, who is it in there with him?" Lily asked. "If it's Barney, I'm pretty sure it's okay." Even then, Lily's mind could imagine some instances where she would not want to be allowed into Marshall's office.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Aldrin," the Slutty Secretary said again, "but he said specifically that no one, not even _you_ could disturb him this afternoon."

"Wow, okay. I really doubt that, let me call him," Lily said, starting to feel the apprehension rise in her. Along with perhaps a twinge of jealousy. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Marshall's personal number. After three excruciatingly long rings, during which time Marshall's Slutty Secretary definitely gave Lily the stink-eye, Marshall finally answered.

"Hey baby, I'm _so_ sorry, but can I call you back later? I'm in the middle of a meeting and can't leave."

Okay, that's perfectly reasonable, Lily thought. But something about Marshall's tone, and the situation just didn't seem right to her somehow. It's not like Marshall had Barney's job at GNB, meeting with heads of state and foreign dignitaries about sensitive cases of national security. He'd never denied Lily access to his office before, even if he _was _in a meeting. Because of her confusion, Lily decided to dig just a little bit more.

"Well baby, I'm right outside. You can't steal just one second and say hi?"

"Sorry Lil, not this time. I'll call you later." And he hung up without another word. Lily's eyes darted to Slutty Secretary, whose satisfaction couldn't be hidden. Lily decided to save face.

"Awww, honey," she cooed into the phone to a phantom Marshall. "No, you know what, as sweet as it is to offer to kick your ... um, meeting guy … out, I don't wanna be a bother. I'll see you at home… no! You don't have to buy me flowers to apologize." Now she was really laying it on. "Well, you can _certainly_ do _THAT_ to apologize," she finished seductively. "See you at home, Marshmallow."

She clicked the phone closed, gave a malicious grin to Slutty Secretary, and turned towards the exit.

Lily was awesome.

Then why'd she have a pit at the bottom of her stomach about this?

Retail therapy, make way for Lily Aldrin.

***

_Ahh, MacLaren's,_ Lily thought. _The highlight of my day_. She was glad she didn't voice that thought to Ted and Robin, who were already seated at the booth at 6pm on a Thursday. She didn't want to sound _too_ much like an alcoholic, after all.

Ted was already deep in a monologue about his new job, spouting off every last detail about today's lecture to Robin. Ever since he'd been hired by Columbia, it was all he could talk about.

Teaching was definitely a step in the right direction for Ted. His passion for the subject was obvious, and he clearly loved the sound of his own voice. The opportunity to co-professor the summer graduate classes was a perfect first step into academia. And from the sound of Ted's monologue, he'd be ready for teaching his own class in the fall.

Lily couldn't help but be jealous of Ted's excitement. After a few years of teaching kindergarten, the luster and excitement had gone out of her own teaching. Maybe she should revamp some of her lesson plans this summer. At least that would give her _something_ to do besides paint, drink, shop, and pester Marshall at work.

What _was _that all about anyway? Marshall still hadn't called her back. That was strange.

Robin's eyes made contact with Lily's and it was easy to read the expression. It was the _dear God, he will NOT shut up_ expression. They must have been here for awhile, because their beers were low. This gave Lily an opening.

"I need a beer," Lily suddenly said, abruptly interrupting Ted's ever lengthening analysis on modern architectural history. "I'll buy a round – Robin, you wanna help carry?"

"Sure," Robin said, trying not to sound _too_ eager to get away from Ted. Then, to Ted she said, "I'll be right back."

"It's okay. I'll use the restroom in the meantime, then I'll continue about how Dr. Glenn –"

The girls had stopped listening to Ted as they quickly rose from their booth to walk to the bar, leaving Ted to himself for a moment.

"Oh my God, he doesn't stop! We've been here for two hours already. I've sat through his lecture – twice! I swear, if this is what it's gonna be like now that he's teaching at Columbia, they'd better give me a fucking PhD in architecture!"

"Aww, c'mon Robin," Lily said. "It's new and exciting for him. We have to be supportive. He'll calm down eventually –"

"Lily. Two. HOURS."

"Fair enough," Lily said as she flagged down Carl to place their order. "Beer good?" she asked Robin.

"How about morphine? No? Okay, beer is fine." As Lily ordered the three beers, Robin's expression of annoyance transformed into a brilliant, deviant smile. "I've got an idea. Let's pawn Ted off for awhile."

Lily groaned. "Robin, that's mean. He just wants to gush to us, he doesn't want a wingman right now. Plus, that's Barney's job, isn't it?"

"Desperate times, Lily."

Lily obliged and started scanning the crowd. It was a pretty heavy post-work crowd, taking advantage of MacLaren's excellent Happy Hour specials. Not the bimbo-laden crowd that Barney usually favored for wingmanning, but a bit higher class a crowd. Which was probably ideal for Ted.

There was a target right next to Lily at the bar. Mid twenties, dark blond hair, smartly dressed – not too professional but certainly not slutty. She actually looked nice. And she was alone.

Suddenly, Robin and Lily saw Ted approaching. If they were gonna do this, it had to be now.

"Hey guys," Ted casually said, "got the beer?"

Lily sprang into action. Channeling her inner Barney Stinson, she turned to Ted with a gallant expression and a cocky smile. Handing Ted his beer in the most theatrical of manners, Lily said, "Ted, your success calls for a celebration. Today, you need to learn how to live! And the only way to do that is with a little game called 'Haaaaave You Met Ted?'"

And with that, amidst Ted's protests, Lily turned towards the target, tapped her on the shoulder and said the legendary phrase, "excuse me, haaaaaave you met Ted?" and pushed Ted towards her.

Works every time.

As Ted talked the target's ear off about his new job, Robin and Lily sidled back into the booth.

"Well done, Lily," Robin said with obvious amusement and pride. "It strikes me that I'm not sure if Barney will be proud of your achievement, or hurt that he wasn't somehow involved."

"Maybe keep this from him until he's most receptive. Like, you know, when you guys are in bed after …" Lily's attempt at a joke ran out of steam as she realized that she wasn't sure if this was within the limits. She immediately regretted the reference to the pseudo relationship.

"Haha .. yeah … " Robin laughed mirthlessly. Robin's amusement at the situation had obviously waned. Lily cringed.

"Sorry, honey," Lily began. "I'm just not quite sure of the boundaries sometimes."

"No, it's ok." Robin shook her head, trying to brush it off. Sincerely, she admitted, "I'm not quite sure of the boundaries either …"

Lily remained silent, sensing that Robin needed to verbalize some of her insecurities regarding her and Barney's … whatever it was.

Robin sighed. "It's just confusing … because whenever I'm with Barney –"

"Are my ears burning, Scherbatsky? Because I'm pretty sure I just heard my name!" Barney exclaimed as he suddenly entered the bar. Clearly he'd caught his own name in the conversation Lily and Robin were having, but didn't quite catch the tone of the serious conversation he'd just interrupted.

Behind Barney trailed Marshall, and they approached the booth and slid in, Barney next to Robin, and Marshall next to Lily. The couples' table. Or whatever it was.

Both girls glanced anxiously at their boothmates, for differing reasons. Robin was sizing up Barney, trying to gauge what part of the conversation he'd heard. Lily was gazing quizzically at Marshall, trying to figure out where the hell he'd been all day. Both guys were oblivious to the stares from their counterparts, but Marshall was clearly uncomfortable. He was figeting, and refusing to look Lily in the eye. Just as Lily was about to question it, Barney casually asked, "so, where's the Nutty Professor tonight?"

His eyes glanced quickly about the bar, then rested upon Ted. Barney chuckled and shook his head with amusement and admiration.

"Clearly, he's using his new 'young, smoldering intellectual' status to impress the ladies. He must have read my blog this week."

Everyone else's eyes followed Barney's and landed on Ted, who now had his tongue down the throat of the target that Lily had chosen for him.

"_Nice_," Robin enthused. "Lily, you're almost a better wingman than Barney. You know you wanna bump this, girl," she said, extending her fist across the table to Lily, bro-style.

Barney and Marshall exchanged a look of confusion, to which Robin replied, "And the award for Wingman of the Night goes to Lily Aldrin for her epic performance in tonight's revival of 'Have You Met Ted?'"

Lily blushed a bit and pounded Robin's fist. A broad smile came across her face as Barney's eyes widened with surprise. She'd never seen what was so fun about being wingman before, but now she could kinda see why Barney was such a fan.

Barney's characteristic smirk replaced the surprise as he said, "well done, Lil. I didn't know you had a bro in you."

"That's my girl," Marshall said, breaking his jumpy silence for the first time that night. He hugged Lily, and she could tell he was a bundle of nerves. The tone of his voice was oozing with excitement, which could not have been just from Lily's new status as a master wingman.

Suddenly, the group's attention focused on Marshall.

"Honey, what is going on?" Lily asked. He was acting so strangely, and his unavailability earlier today rushed back into Lily's mind. She elaborated for him, "you were busy today, and didn't call me back, and now you're acting so –"

"IT'S NESSIE" Marshall exclaimed, immediately silencing all of the neighboring tables in MacLaren's.

Only Ted and his target remained undisturbed.

*******

Marshall and Lily were lying in bed later that night, both staring up at the ceiling, not looking at each other.

" So let me get this straight, Lily began, cautiously. "You want to take two weeks off from work to join a Loch Ness search party in Scotland."

"No, baby. I want you to be there too. We can do it together! You've been bored all day, and this will be exciting!"

"Marshall, I'm sorry but I have a big problem with this. First of all, I don't want to relive our honeymoon. At least, not the Nessie part," she added quickly.

"Nessie is magical, Lil!" Marshall boomed. "I know you couldn't care less about this, but it's important to me! This could be a fantastic adventure and a great opportunity."

Then in a smaller voice, Marshall added, "it's my life dream. You _know _that."

Lily looked at Marshall. He looked deflated, hurt. Her apprehension began to evaporate. This was her soulmate, the love of her life. He built her up time after time. He always supported her in _her_ life dreams. The least she could do was support him here.

"I'm sorry, Marshmallow," she said meekly. "You're right. If you really want this, I really want this. Tell me more about it."


	3. Ted and Columbia Part 1

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far! I went back and edited the introduction a bit, but nothing has been changed content wise. Keep the reviews coming! :)

**The Ted and Columbia Piece**

**Part 1**

It was the first day of school for the summer session, and she was _already_ bored with this class. Modern Architectural Design? Ugh.

She knew next to _nothing_ about architecture, nor did she care. But she needed a distraction. That is why she enrolled in Columbia for graduate work, wasn't it? She was taking a smattering of classes, reminiscent of her undergraduate freshman year, about 10 years earlier. A degree in English will set you up for just about anything, she supposed.

Dr. Glenn introduced the course to the lecture hall of about 250 graduate students. Blah blah blah architecture this, blah blah blah design that. This class was going to be hell.

But it was better than her sitting around, unemployed (THANKS, recession!), ruminating over her very tragic, very painful breakup with her last boyfriend, John. After four years of happiness, he'd dumped her for some _bimbo_. It was already six months later, but she was still upset about it. She'd done some sleeping around, but she felt nothing. She was just numb. She was practically numb all the time.

Now at least her mind was swimming with these architectural terms. This class was going to be difficult. Maybe she'd transfer out of it.

She turned to the girl on her right, some sort of homely chick who was _obviously_ getting off on this nerdy stuff. "Pssst," she said, trying to get her attention. "Do you get any of this?"

Homely Girl shot her a look that said "shut up" as she turned her rapt attention back to Dr. Glenn. She turned to the girl on her left instead, why by all accounts seemed much cooler. She nudged the girl, whose attention focused on her. "Do you get any of this?"

"Not a word," the girl confided in her. "But it seems interesting enough."

She signed, and turned her attention back to the podium, just in time to see Dr. Glenn turn the class over to a very attractive, young guy who couldn't have been much older than her. Professor Mosby introduced himself to the class, and explained that he'd be co-professoring for the summer session, and would be leading the class on the basic elemental aspects of modern design. He'd been some kind of big-shot project manager at his architectural firm, and was turning to a new career path by teaching. Suddenly, she didn't really want to drop this course anymore.

After the class was over, the girls she'd bothered during the lecture each turned to her to introduce themselves.

"Sorry I was mean to you before," Homely Girl said, "I just really love Dr. Glenn and I get focused in the lectures, you know?" Homely Girl wasn't that horrible. Still a nerd, but not horrible. "I'm Samantha."

The other girl also introduced herself to the two of them, saying "I'm Grace."

Finally, she spoke, introducing herself to her two classmates, "I'm Columbia. Nice to meet you ladies."


	4. Barney and Robin Part 1

**The Barney and Robin Piece**

**Part 1**

Everything's changed.

As Robin sat in the cab on the way back home from Barney's she couldn't help but think, over and over again –

Everything's changed.

The thought had been nagging at her consistently since that day in the hospital after Ted's goat incident. Usually she was able to squelch the thought, making a mental list of all the ways things hadn't changed between her and Barney. Usually that list far outweighed the much scarier list of how things _had _changed.

She nervously picked at a few rogue split ends in her hair as the cab trekked across town. Perhaps a walk across Central Park would have been a better way to clear her head, but it was so damn hot outside that she couldn't bear it. Seriously, 100 degrees in mid-July, with no end in sight? Her Canadian core was crying in sweltering pain. Ugh.

As she rolled down the window to catch some relief, she summoned the list again, the mantra she'd used to keep her sane in the past few months since she and Barney had started this … undefined something.

_He's still lewd_

_He's still awesome._

_He still wears suits._

_He still says "legendary," with and without the "wait for it"s._

_He still wingmans for Ted._

_He still goes laser tagging._

_He still recites random passages from the Bro Code verbatim._

_He still does something important and secretive for GNB._

_He still shields his inner emotions with the façade of his awesomeness, suits, and the like._

It was a long list, and it should have made her feel better, like it usually did. Not this time. Now she had to remove a very important aspect of Barney from that list, and move it to the scary "Things That HAVE Changed List."

_He still sleeps around._

Robin might be in some trouble.

***

For the past few months, they'd had an understanding. They were together, but at the same time they weren't.

Robin wasn't convinced that she was in love with Barney. It's not that she didn't care about him. She did. It's not that she didn't enjoy being around him. She _really_ did. It's that she was always waiting for Barney to get scared off and run. And to leave her hurt. So it was easier to keep a sense of detachment.

That was usually Robin's MO: to get scared and run before anything serious developed. Her relationship with Ted was the first one where she really tried and stuck it out. She let herself fall in love, and when it ended, it was ok, her world didn't end. But Barney was certainly not Ted. For all the good, and all the bad.

She wasn't opposed to letting herself love Barney. But she wasn't ready.

Barney, for his part, was understanding. When they aired out their feelings immediately following the goat incident, he admitted that he loved her (not that he actually used those words, exactly – they never had used the l-word sincerely), and that he had for awhile. It was declared a Mosbying-free conversation, and it was difficult for both of them to be so brutally honest with themselves and each other.

When the conversation ended, they had reached their understanding.

Then they had the most legendary sex Robin had ever imagined.

And ever since then, they had been Bros By Day, Lovers By Night. If plotted on one of Marshall's graphs, it would lie somewhere between friends with benefits and an actual relationship.

They spent a lot of time together, which wasn't really out of the ordinary. They did their bro-ing around, playing laser tag or going to the cigar bar from time to time. By most appearances, they were the same bros they'd been for years.

Occasionally, only occasionally, they went on a "date." They'd gone on about three by this point. It usually consisted of dinner at a ridiculously expensive and exclusive restaurant, then spending the rest of the night at Barney's or Robin's place.

And then there was the sex.

But they weren't exclusive.

Until now.

Now things had changed.

And that scared the shit out of Robin.

***

The night before had been their third "date." That fact, if Robin had thought of it before, should have tipped her off that it would be a transformative time for their … whatever it was. Clearly, they'd already had the sex, but there were other boundaries to cross.

True to their style, they simply met at the restaurant. Earlier that day, as Robin and Barney exchanged g-chats during lunch, Barney had said:

_Let's do dinner._

_8pm._

_My neighborhood – 76__th__ and York._

_Restaurant's name is Rush. Should be good._

_Dress code = hot. And I mean HOT._

_See you._

And he signed off, not even allowing Robin to type a sentence in edgewise. Robin was proficient but he was incredibly fast and nimble with his fingers. Robin had experienced that firsthand many times by this point.

The thought intrigued her as she quickly went to her closet to pick out the sexiest dress she owned. When Barney Stinson says "hot," Robin knew he meant it.

At ten minutes after 8pm, Robin approached the restaurant, finding Barney already waiting there.

She felt her skin flush and her heart flutter faintly as she spied him while he checked his watch and shifted his weight impatiently. Robin loved these moments, where she could observe Barney without him noticing. It was like a private window into who he really was.

_Easy Scherbatsky_, she chided herself, channeling the Barney Stinson tone. _Keep your cool._

Barney's eyes found Robin as she approached. His entire posture and aura changed. Suddenly he'd gone from impatience to excitement. After the initial glance of recognition, Barney's eyes predictably gave Robin the once over. His greeting to Robin was a low whistle, then, "Scherbatsky, you take your dress codes seriously."

Robin, thoughts of Barney's nimble fingers and the power they possessed still lingering in her mind, simply smiled seductively, and greeted Barney with a suggestive kiss. He instinctively leaned in for more, trying to initiate a rated R make-out session on the sidewalk of 76th Street. Robin, keeping a level head, pulled away.

"Nuh uh, soldier," she teased. "You promised me dinner, and I'm starving. What do you think, I'm some kind of cheap date?"

Barney winked at her. "How much will it take to get you to come home with me?"

"A delectable surf and turf dinner, a slice of cheesecake, and a conversation where you do NOT allude to my Canadianness."

"Please," Barney scoffed. "You're trying to play hardball, Scherbatsky, and hard … _ball_ … is my game. What. Up."

Robin simply shook her head in fake disgust. The pun was rather bad, but he was so proud of himself. Robin just _had_ to play along.

Barney continued, "I'm about 101% sure you're bluffing. I could get you into bed right now if you weren't so famished. But for your well being, and so you don't faint mid-bang, I'll keep up this charade and eat dinner with you first."

And with that he extended his arm, chivalrously, and Robin entwined her arm with his.

Verbal sparring – check.

Now it was time for dinner.

The "date" started like the two before it – witty repartee, smoldering stares across the table, sexually charged brushes of skin as they adjusted their feet, reached for bread, or tinged their wine glasses (or scotch glasses – whatever the case may be). They consciously shied away from the sickeningly coupley practice of sharing food. What was Robin's was Robin's, what was Barney's was Barney's.

That's just how they rolled.

Conversation revolved around the usual. Marshall and Lily's goofiness, Ted's sheer Ted-ness, work and other related stories. Never did the conversation stray to dangerous territory, like feelings. No no, Barney and Robin didn't play that way.

It was a dinner between bros, but bros who were undeniably sleeping together.

Every word, every stare, every touch was part of an elaborate seduction ritual that the two were creating.

By the time Robin's surf and turf arrived at the circular table, her chair had mysteriously slid closer and closer to Barney's side. And Barney's hand had not only claimed a place on Robin's thigh, but it was slowly, ever so slowly, inching its way up. His soft, slender, meticulous fingers, which Robin had been fantasizing about all day, had just brushed under the hem of her skirt when the waiter arrived with the meals.

Robin realized that her appetite for food had been superseded by another, deeper, more urgent hunger. The waiter had walked away, and Barney's hand still continued to edge up her thigh. Even though the food probably looked delicious, Robin didn't give it a glance. Her eyes were firmly locked on Barney's striking blue eyes, as their conversation quickly stalled. The air between them tingled with electricity. Simultaneously, they broke the stare and Barney's hand left Robin's thigh. Without a word, they jumped up from the table and strode, urgently yet composed, to the ladies' room and locked the door.

There, any pretense of innocence evaporated as their lips and tongues collided in a frenzy of passion. Barney's tongue felt hot in her mouth as he traced the outline of her teeth and teased her tongue with his own.

She softly bit down on his lower lip as his hands found their favorite spot on Robin's body, her breasts. He fondled and massaged them, and kissed her hungrily, while Robin's hands migrated to his belt, brushing against him as she did so.

Barney groaned into her. This is what they did best – red hot passion. Robin did not doubt herself at all in this exchange in the bathroom. What's more, she didn't doubt Barney either. There were no warning bells going off in her head. The only thought on her mind was of him, how much she wanted him, how much she needed him right NOW. She felt him shiver pleasantly under her touch.

Then, his fingers, those fingers, slid up under her hem again, even more electric than before. Every nerve ending in Robin's body tingled with the sought after attention from Barney's fingers. They didn't linger on her thighs long however, as he picked up the skirt of her dress and bunched it up around her waist.

Barney then noticed the lack of any other fabric between them, and spoke for the first time since they entered the restroom.

"No panties. Hot. You really take the dress code more seriously than I thought."

"Shut up, Barney," Robin breathed into him.

The next time they spoke was after it was over. Barney smoothed her dress back down and put himself back together. Robin turned to the sink and splashed some water on her face.

When she looked back up and into the mirror, she could see Barney staring back at her reflection. He was no longer wearing that burning expression of passion and lust, but instead something more serene, more contemplative.

His hand rubbed at the back of his neck as he slowly shook his head in admiration and said simply, "you're an amazing woman, Robin Scherbatsky."

Robin turned around and closed the space between them, grabbing his hand warmly as she softly kissed him.

Their eyes met as she pulled back away. Barney's expression was still one of earnest serenity, something Robin had never known about until recently. It still unnerved her a bit. Robin shifted the tone by saying frankly, "I know it."

Barney chuckled warmly, and was suddenly back to Barney.

They went back to their table and ate as if nothing happened. Robin's lobster was cold, but she couldn't care less.

***

The next morning, Robin awoke feeling the bed shift next to her and Barney's arm leave her side as he got out of bed. Try as she might to deny it, she felt a bit disappointed as she felt Barney slip out of bed and away from her.

She turned towards him, lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Don't," she almost said, but that would have been against the rules. Against the rules she ardently adhered to in order to protect her fragile emotions. Instead she simply mumbled, "'morning, Barney." A warm smile crept across Barney's face and his eyes sparkled at her. Even though she didn't say what she really wanted to, she got her wish. Barney crept back into bed and under the covers (big enough for two!). His hand softly brushed at her side as he returned her greeting with a soft kiss.

Every time she woke up at Barney's she was struck by how different it was than the first time after they slept together. That time, awesome-Barney was the Barney who woke up next to her. Now, a more real, gentle Barney awoke next to her, as if it took him a few minutes to recharge his awesome mask. And every time, it took him a bit longer to recharge, and Robin spent more and more morning time with the raw, unguarded Barney. It unnerved her a bit, but she was learning to like this side of Barney. This was a side of him that she could even find herself allowing herself to be in love with. Because he was still the same great person she had known for years, but a bit safer, perhaps.

That side of Barney simultaneously comforted and scared the crap out of Robin.

"So what's on your agenda for the day, Scherbatsky?"

"I'm not sure. I might see what Lily's up to. I feel like I've been ignoring her lately, and I know she's been bored silly. What about you? Gonna go bro-ing with Ted tonight, dip your toes into the bimbo wave pool?"

Barney winced.

"Please," he scoffed, in his trademark fashion. "Maybe I'll wingman for Ted," he started, then hesitated, weighing his words. He continued, tone more cautious, subdued. "But, I don't think I'll be playing the field tonight, because – to be honest …" He hesitated again, unsure of whether he should continue. "To be honest, I haven't slept with anyone else in a month, and I haven't even really missed it. At all."

The silence between them was torturous.

This broke the rules. This broke all their rules.

Suddenly, their … relationship … was becoming a whole lot more serious. Their understanding had been violated, and Robin struggled to keep her composure.

Everything had changed.

Crap.


	5. Marshall and Lily Part 2

A/N: Thanks again for all the positive and constructive feedback! Sorry if my posts have been somewhat irregular. I'm trying to take my time with this and have a deliberate end point for all three of the threads of the story. I'm almost there. So that's why there's been a delay. Part 2 of Ted's story will be next, probably either late this week or early next week. Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans if I'm not back before the weekend. :)

And thanks again for reading! :)

**The Marshall and Lily Piece**

**Part 2**

As Marshall boarded the research vessel in the dock on the edge of the beautiful loch, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Lily was home in New York, half-crazed with boredom and the sweltering New York summer (it hadn't dipped below 90 in at least three weeks), and here he was pursuing his dream in Scotland.

He felt guilty, but at the same time, he noted the beautifully poetic irony that three years ago she had left him to pursue her dream. At least this time there was no fallout.

Well, at least no fallout as remotely devastating as their broken engagement. Lily _was_ pretty pissed at him, but she'd get over it. And Marshall _was_ carrying some heartache and guilt since boarding that plane at JFK airport two days before. That pain still hadn't lifted from him yet, and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't over the two weeks he'd be separated from her.

When his foot first fell upon the deck of the boat, he sent a telepathic "I love you, Lilypad," across the ocean. He wasn't sure if their signal was _that_ strong, but he tried anyway, and he almost swore he could hear her voice returning with an "I love you too" for him.

He put thoughts of Lily temporarily out of his mind as he met the researchers on the boat. They were all scientists – zoologists, marine biologists, oceanographers, geologists, and the like. No lawyers, except for him. No hardcore Nessie enthusiasts. This was not tourism, but serious stuff. Marshall really had no business being here. Luckily for him, he knew a guy who knew a guy.

***

That night, as he lay in bed at his hotel room (no signs of Nessie just yet), he thought again of Lily, and of their tearful goodbye only days before.

God, he loved that woman.

He couldn't fall asleep without her, as he'd discovered in the weeks leading up to their wedding. The night before, he'd tried to call her, but she didn't answer. It was a sleepless night.

If he tried to call her again tonight, she wouldn't pick up. That much he knew. She was still angry at him for leaving, and was being spiteful. He knew she couldn't sleep either in their big, empty apartment. She might have gone to Robin's and Ted's, but she wouldn't sleep there either. It wasn't much consolation, but he wasn't insulted. It was her way of instituting some control, some Aldrin Justice on him, because he'd really gone against her wishes by coming to Scotland again. She'd get over it soon, once she was too sleep deprived to be angry anymore.

Most of all, he knew that she loved him unconditionally. She was just upset.

As the hours slowly wiled away, Marshall's mind again drifted to their goodbyes- the angry tears at the airport, counterbalanced by the vice-like hug and passionate kiss she'd given him as he was about to board the plane.

Lily was hot when she was angry.

Marshall immediately stopped his thought process, afraid of where his mind was taking him. He really needed to sleep, and if he started to think _those_ thoughts, he'd never be able to.

It was too late.

His mind was aroused, and now, quite frankly, his body was too.

The memory of the two-hour time span before leaving for the airport surfaced in his mind, bringing with it the feelings of passion, desperation, and longing that had filled those hours. Lily had been angry. Lily had been hurt. Lily had been searching for something in Marshall, and she did everything in her power to get it. Marshall graciously obliged, letting her take control and set the pace for both of them.

It was hot. It was messy. And it was getting Marshall seriously turned on as he lay there in that hotel room, thinking back to the sex he'd had only two days before with his wife. He needed release, and he had no reason to deny that for himself. Now that his mind had gone down that road, it actually was making him feel better as his hand touched the places Lily had before. It was nostalgic in a very, VERY arousing way.

Twenty minutes later he was still lying on the bed, now with tears in his eyes and his cell phone in his hand. It was still late evening in New York. Lily would be awake, and he needed to hear her voice.

After one ring, Lily answered. Marshall's stomach churned with relief.

"Marshall," she said expectantly.

"Lily, it is so good to hear your voice."

***

It was one week into the expedition, and Marshall was starting to get anxious. Things between him and Lily had been repaired, but between him and Nessie things were increasingly strained.

The scientists had just finished using sonar to map the bottom of the loch, and the geologists had made their initial prognosis – no Nessie.

Marshall had snorted indignantly at the news. Sonar had been done before, with the same results. But Nessie was a smart, beautiful, and independent creature. She could easily evade the scientists' devices if she so chose. Marshall was sure she could hide in caverns, or even disappear entirely if she wanted to.

It was not that Marshall was doubting her. It was just that he was doubting himself, his specialness, his connection with the mystical creature. He'd realized that other than Lily and Ted, Nessie was the one closest to his heart. _Maybe_ Robin and Barney were equal with her, but Marshall was fairly sure that Nessie had them beat.

Except now he was finding that although he was physically the closest he'd ever been to her, he couldn't feel her presence. He'd always expected that once he was on the waters of the loch, he'd feel her presence like a phantom, like a deceased love.

But he felt nothing.

"Have you prayed to the glorious Nessie?" Lily had asked him the night before, teasing him when he confided in her his Nessie theory and his disappointment with her.

He'd scoffed at her then, a little hurt by her blatant mockery. But now, it didn't seem like a terrible idea. _I mean, it couldn't hurt – right?_, he thought.

The sun was going down as the ship remained on the water. For the next three days, the researchers were staying on the water overnight, collecting data about the nocturnal life of the loch. While the researchers were fairly certain this would be a bust, they were committed to their scientific cause.

Now was as good a time as any.

Marshall, who had been leaning against the railing of the ship, overlooking the calm waters of the loch, lowered himself onto his knees, in a prayer-like position.

He closed his eyes.

_Nessie, it's Marshall Ericksen. Are you there?_

Nothing.

_This is stupid_, Marshall thought to himself. He brushed the doubtful feeling away and decided to commit himself to this.

_Nessie_, he started again, trying to engage her in a telepathic conversation moreso than pray to her. _Nessie, it's Marshall Ericksen_. He opened his eyes and gazed out into the water. _If you're in there, please answer me._

_Hello Marshall,_ a deep, dreamy voice said. _I've been waiting for you. Why did it take you a whole week to talk to me?_

Marshall's jaw dropped in shock.


	6. Ted and Columbia Part 2

**The Ted and Columbia Piece**

**Part 2**

Ted was always a good student in school. Growing up, there were many times he was teased for being a "teacher's pet," many times his head was held down into a toilet by the less intelligent students. Even in college, when he developed a love of sandwiches, Ted kept his priorities straight and excelled.

Some people would call him a nerd. Even now, his friends sometimes call him pretentious. He, however, would consider himself an overachiever, someone who excelled at life repeatedly.

He never thought he'd be a teacher. That was just not something on his radar. But his friends were right about this – it _was_ a perfect job for him.

Then why did he still feel like a failure?

Echoes of the cliché, "those who can't do, teach" threatened to torture his mind as he dressed for his first day in front of the classroom on his own. He pushed it out of his mind as he faced his current decision: what to wear.

Tweed jacket and jeans? Too casual.

Suit up? Too formal.

Ted eventually chose a grey pair of dress pants, a crisp blue and white striped button down shirt, and a navy blazer. He felt a little better now that he at least looked the part of a successful professor.

But who was he kidding? He wasn't qualified for this. Sure, he knew his stuff, but there were people with PhDs who couldn't land a sweet gig at Columbia like he had just done. Ted was smart, but he didn't have the doctorate to back that up.

He'd been sort of co-professoring this class for a few weeks with an established full-time faculty member. Really, he'd been more like a TA than anything else, but today was the beginning of his unit on elemental design. He'd be taking the reins for the rest of the summer session. This was _his_ final exam. If he blew it, he wouldn't be teaching his own classes in the fall.

Ted Mosby had never failed before. This was a lot of pressure. This was no time for doubt or fear. He had to just go for it, give it his all, and hope that his hours and days and weeks of preparation would pay off. It was time to take that metaphorical leap that Lily had philosophized about that night after the goat incident.

Ted took a deep breath, and grabbed his cell phone on the way out, and saw that there were two texts waiting for him. As he tried to collect himself enough to walk out of the apartment and to the school, he read them.

_From: Marshall_

_Cell: #212-555-2140_

_Good luck man. Call me when you're done. I'll be awake until at least 5pm your time. When I get home from Scotland I'll buy you a beer to celebrate._

Ted smiled at the encouragement from his best friend, who apparently was making _quite_ the name for himself in Scotland with the whole finding Nessie business. Now that Marshall's stay was extended, the dynamic from the group was brought down a few notches. Lily was especially finding it hard, so she flew out to Scotland yesterday. Leaving Ted with the most dysfunctional duo he knew. Which reminded Ted to read the second text.

_From: Barney (AWESOME)_

_Cell: #212-555-1776_

_Kick some ass today, bro. Celebratory shots and lap dance at the Lusty Leopard as soon as class ends. I'll be waiting. PS: suit up._

Ted laughed aloud. There was no way he'd be partaking in that. Not today, anyway.

Sighing in resignation and anxiousness at knowing that he had to leave, Ted put his phone back in his pocket, opened the door, and walked out of the apartment, each foot feeling like it was leading him to his execution.

***

At 4pm, Barney showed up at Ted's door, visibly upset. He didn't even wait for Ted to say anything before he launched into his tirade.

"Theodore," he began, voice filled with grandeur and pomposity, "when a bro texts a second bro with plans for a lap dance, the second bro _must_ comply. Or at least text the first bro back with an EXTRAORDINARILY good reason why he could not." He paused for effect. "Bro Code Article 175, Subsection 2. Dude, where were you?"

Barney's glare softened when he saw Ted shrug his shoulders and say dismally, "I dunno, I just wasn't much in the mood today …"

"What? Today didn't go well? You were so well prepared! You practically wowed and awed us with your architectural brilliance yesterday … how could it have gone wrong?"

Ted smiled, having tricked Barney into being nice for once. Barney caught on instantly.

"You douchebag, it went well, didn't it?"

"It was fantastic! I can't believe how –" Barney cut him off with a raise of his hand. The look of indignation at being blown off was back.

"Then _why_ didn't you come to the Lusty Leopard with me?"

"I'm just under a lot of pressure," Ted responded honestly. "I really _wasn't_ in the mood."

"AND? What better stress relief is there than sitting back and enjoying the thrills and artistry of exotic dance?"

"Barney, I'm not you. Maybe that's how you relieve _your_ stress. But I'm not like you."

"That's your problem Ted! Have I taught you nothing?"

"Pretty much," Ted interjected.

"Fine, you don't want to go to a strip club," Barney began, ignoring Ted's latest retort. "But clearly, you need a distraction. It's Friday night, you don't have to teach tomorrow, and you kicked ass on your first day. Tonight, it's me and you – wingmanning up a _storm_. Tonight our possibilities are _limitless_."

"Limitless? What is that, the new 'legendary'?" Ted scoffed.

"No," Barney responded, shocked and appalled at even the thought of a replacement for his legendary catchphrase. "Never. I just mean that you need to shut off your brain and let the night happen. Follow my lead, and tonight WILL be legendary."

Usually Ted would refuse, but for some reason he was receptive to Barney's insanity tonight. He _had_ been incredibly stressed, and today _had _gone very well.

The power of being in front of the classroom was intoxicating. Ted knew that this job was tailor-made for him. He felt glorious after passing his first exam with flying colors.

It was time to celebrate. And who better to guide Ted than Barney?

***

For maybe the only the second time since meeting Barney, Ted followed his directions, and suited up. If the night was going to be truly limitless, he had to trust Barney. For years, Ted had watched Barney turn average, ordinary nights into nights of legendary proportions.

Exhibit A – licking the Liberty Bell.

Exhibit B – well, any number of nights that started out just like this one.

So Ted decided to drop the protests, throw caution to the wind, and suit up into Barney Stinson's world, at least for that one night.

And honestly, the look of sincere excitement on Barney's face was almost enough to make the entire night worth it to Ted. He hadn't seemed that excited about life since their trip to the Belmont Stakes over a month prior. But Belmont is a story for another day.

Now, Ted usually did pretty well in MacLaren's. He had little trouble chatting up a pretty girl, and sometimes it would lead to something more. While Barney helped him achieve his successes at times, Ted believed he was certainly capable on his own. That night showed him how inept he had been.

Somehow, the suit worked its promised magic.

Ted was reeling in the ladies left and right. Some were admittedly bimbos of the type that Barney likes – er, liked. But there was some quality in the mix too.

Thinking of Barney's new aversion to bimbos made Ted realize that Robin was nowhere to be seen. He'd have to ask Barney. But right now he was on his third shot of the night with the sassy redhead he'd been talking for about ten minutes now.

The night was limitless. Who knew where the night would take him.

A half hour later, he left the girl, Maryalice (with a phone number in hand), to find Barney, who was sitting at the booth looking a bit lost.

Ted had realized that every once in awhile, if you watch Barney when he's not aware of it, you see a different man entirely. It seemed to be a man without his armor. It was unnerving to Ted.

As Ted approached, Barney's demeanor changed, tacking on his cocky, self-assured smile.

"Reeling them in, huh Mosby? Now will you finally start suiting up regularly?"

Ted slid into the booth, realizing as he did so that the social lubricants he had partaken in were starting to kick in. He was unsteady and ungraceful. He ignored Barney's question, and countered with a question of his own.

"Where's Robin tonight?"

Barney's face didn't betray any emotion as he waved the question away.

"Bros' Night Out. Don't worry about Robin. Tonight, it's just you and me and …" his eyes scanned the bar, looking for the next potential victims, "those two girls. A solid 8 and a 9. Let's get cracking, Mosby. Dibs on the 9."

Unsteady as Ted was, he quickly rose from the booth in sync with Barney and raised his arm to block Barney's path to the bar.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on Barney. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Barney just sighed theatrically. "You're right. This is your night, so I guess you _should_ get the 9. I'll take one for the team, but just this once."

"That's not what I mean, Barney. What about Robin?"

"What about her, Ted? We're not exclusive, remember? We're both free to explore other options, and those two girls are options I'm excited to explore." Despite saying typically Barney-ish words, his expression was dark and unfamiliar. It was as if he wasn't really enjoying this. Then, forcefully, he raised his hand in the air, ridiculously exclaiming, "Infidelity five!"

There was no way Ted was on board with that, drunk or sober. Robin deserved more than that. They both did.

Ted knew with almost complete certainty that Barney hadn't slept with anyone but Robin since they'd all gone to the Belmont Stakes together. And that was over a month ago. So why the change in attitude? Why tonight?

These are things that Ted's booze-addled mind _wanted_ to ask Barney, but by the time he could formulate the words, Barney had already allowed the high five to expire, went to the bar, and bought a round of shots for them.

Ted approached, and tried to reason with him. "Barney – " he started, but was immediately cut off.

"Ted, just do a shot with me." Barney's expression was pained. He wasn't being himself. Ted was seriously worried, but he followed Barney's directions and downed his shot. Since when did they start doing _shots_? They always hated them. Ted especially, following the dreaded Pineapple Incident. Yet here they were. This wasn't right.

"Tonight is not about me," Barney finally said as way of explanation after downing the shot. "It's about you. Now let's down one more shot, get you sloppy drunk, and let's give you a night of _legendary_ proportions."

He wanted to argue with Barney, but Ted could feel that it would be a losing battle. If Barney didn't want to talk, he wouldn't. So, in keeping with the night's theme, he followed Barney's lead, took another shot, and shut his mind off.

An hour later, Ted was chatting up the 9, hands grazing up and down her thigh. She was giggling, clearly enjoying his touch. Ted was _really_ drunk, having had at least one more beer since the two shots with Barney.

Barney, despite having been off the roster for the past month, was doing incredibly well with the 8. After selling the two girls the story that they were former NYC firefighters (who joined up after 9/11 to better serve their city, leaving high profile Wall Street jobs), Barney had been making out with the girl for at least a half hour.

Deceit didn't come as easily to Ted Mosby, but he was playing along. And if all went well, Barney's wingmanship would earn him a celebratory roll in the hay with this girl. It was time to make his move.

_Say something charming_,_ Ted_, he thought to himself.

So when the girl asked, "what was the scariest moment you had on the job," Ted recognized his chance to reel her in with some sensitive guy material.

"Well, we got a call to this pre-Civil War era brownstone- a real relic in the city, you know? And fire is visible through almost every window. As I'm trying to break through the locked door, I realized that the façade of the building was about to collapse on top of me, that the structural supports to the building couldn't withstand the fire, unlike the more modern buildings today.

"Anyway, I realize that a few tons of brick and mortar were about to collapse on top of me, and all I could this was 'this is it'."

The girl leaned in close with lusty interest at this point of the story.

"So what did you do, Professor Mosby," she whispered, ghostlike into his ear.

Ted stopped in his tracks, pulled away quickly, and sobered up about three notches at hearing her utter his title.

"Wha? Wait … what did you call me?"

She proceeded to lean in even closer, more seductively.

"You certainly seem to know a lot about the architectural structure of the building, professor. I'd love to hear more."

Ted was still drunk, confused, and starting to feel a slight bit of terror arise in him. He tried to respond, but his voice got caught up in his throat.

"Yes, Professor Mosby, I know who you really are," she answered to his unspoken question. Her hand brushed his arm lightly, flirting and teasing him. Ted flinched. She continued, "actually, I was incredibly excited to see you here, but I wish you wouldn't have made up a fake story to flirt with me. And besides," she brought her lips up to Ted's ear and whispered in that ghostlike manner again, "I find a professor to be a _way_ hotter occupation than a firefighter."

She pulled away to be able to stare intently at him.

Ted couldn't be sure what came over him and caused him to do it, but his lips were on hers almost immediately. She tasted of Jagermeister and whatever flavor lip product she was wearing.

In between frantic kisses, Ted asked breathlessly, "what … what was your name again?"

"Columbia," she answered, pulling herself into Ted's lap. "Like the university."

As Barney was making out with the 8 and Ted was making out with Columbia, he couldn't help but think that Barney was right about tonight – Ted's possibilities in that moment, and in life itself, were limitless.


	7. Barney and Robin Part 2

A/N: Even I'm feeling that we need a bit of the Barnacle in this story. Sorry he was the last to have his perspective represented. It's overdue. The inspiration for a large chunk of this chapter actually comes from a tradition that my friends and I have, and a tradition that I superimposed upon the gang. As a result, I wrote my friends into the story. I'm kind of there, but I'm just a part of the mass ... that way I can say in my story world I have actually met some of the HIMYM crew! :)

Disclaimer: Stronger language in this part than in a lot of the other parts. If you're offended by swear words, either steer clear or earmuff it.

**The Barney and Robin Piece**

**Part 2**

Barney's eyes opened and surveyed his surroundings. A pink bedspread was the first thing he noticed.

_Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck_, he thought.

He willed his eyes to continue. Antique looking lamp. Blank white walls littered with picture frames of unfamiliar people. Dresser with a variety of clothes spilling out of the drawers, and a makeup bag sprawled on top. Curtains in some flowery pattern.

He saved the worst observation for last. Although it tortured him to do so, he turned his head to look at the woman he knew was lying next to him.

Blond, wavy, unruly locks. _Well, at least it's not a Robin look-alike_, Barney thought. But she certainly was not an 8, that's for sure. Either he was ridiculously drunk the night before, or he was rusty at this game. She was OK looking, but certainly not up to the Barney Stinson gold standard of bimbo. If he wasn't so horrified at what he'd done, he'd be pissed at himself for lowering his standards.

_FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK MYYYYYYYYYY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE, _he thought again.

What the fuck had happened to him? This was absolutely less than awesome. He had one stupid fight with Robin, then the first time he gets seriously drunk he goes out and bangs a bimbo that couldn't have been hotter than a 5. And he can't even remember if the sex had been any good.

But didn't he just do what Robin had wanted him to do?

A large part of Barney wanted to dissolve into a violent rage, berating the conquest and trashing her cute and clichéd room. But he needed to compose himself. He couldn't move from the bed until he composed himself.

All Barney could think about was that fight they'd had a week earlier. _Why_ had he confessed his monogamy? He _knew_ it would freak her out. It was too soon for that; he knew Robin wasn't ready to commit, but he couldn't help it. The words left his mouth like the word vomit they were. Try as he might to control it, it was uncontrollable.

_Ugh_, he thought as he listened to his own thoughts. _I am SUCH a fucking Ted right now. I am not a Ted. I am Barney Fucking Stinson. I am legendary, the most awesome person I know. I am not weak. And I am not monogamous. Anymore._

Again, Barney asked himself the question: what had happened to him? Barney barely recognized himself. Barney Stinson of a year ago would not have been berating himself – torturing himself – for seducing a bimbo. Barney Stinson of two months ago wouldn't have done that either, although he probably wouldn't have been as enthused about it. Now he was almost physically ill with the thoughts of what he had done.

He only had one person to blame.

Robin Scherbatsky.

When they first got together, nearly three months before, they'd had a mutual agreement – they were together, but they were allowed to be with other people too.

At the time, Barney thought that provision was specifically set for him, so that Robin wouldn't get hurt. He never thought Robin would take to it so ardently herself.

In May and the beginning of June, there were quite a few times when Robin's dates would end and then she'd show up at Barney's for Round 2.

The thought of being with Robin at 3am after she'd just left some other dude always sickened Barney just a bit, but he loved her, and would never turn her away. That would be breaking the rules. And it wasn't like he hadn't had his own sexcapades during that time either. The parade of bimbos was definitely less than before, and also more discreet (Barney was vulgar, but he wasn't heartless enough to parade these women around the gang), but present nonetheless.

All this had suited Barney just fine, but then in June the game changer had happened: the Belmont Stakes.

***

It all started at MacLaren's, back at the very beginning of June.

"Ted," Barney started, changing the course of the conversation from some lame story about Marshall's successful bowel movement to a subject infinitely more awesome, "do you know what my favorite day of the year is?"

Instantly everyone chimed in.

"Christmas."

"Super Bowl."

"Your birthday."

"International Sex Day."

"No, no, close guess with the Super Bowl, and International Sex Day might be my new favorite if you tell me when that is, Scherbatsky," he said suggestively. Robin smirked, but remained infuriatingly tightlipped.

Barney sighed and continued. "No, my friends, my favorite day of the year is the Belmont Stakes, and that just so happens to be _this_ Saturday!"

Ted, Marshall, and Lily groaned with recognition and unacceptable apprehension. Robin just looked around in confusion.

"What is that?" she asked.

"My dear Robin," Barney began, "you and your Canadian ways. The Belmont Stakes is only the most amazing gambling experience in life. It's a legendary combination of –"

"It's horse racing," Ted interjected.

Barney scowled at Ted. "It's not _just_ a horse race, Ted, it's the culmination of the Triple Crown. There's the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, then the Belmont Stakes, which is clearly better than the others because it's the last one, and because it's held right here in New York. It's an incredibly important moment in the sublime and noble sport of equine racing."

The others still had disapproving looks on their faces.

"We used to go every year!" Barney exclaimed, looking for a different angle. "I'm surprised that no one is excited about this! I'm bringing back a tradition of _legendary_ proportions!"

"I hate to break it to you Barney, but I've been hanging out with you guys for a few years now, and I've never heard about this before," Robin said, "so maybe it's a tradition that should just remain phased out."

"No!" Barney exclaimed ardently, voice getting more strident and determined. "There are good reasons as to why we didn't go every year. For example:

"Belmont '08: I was in the hospital with 80% of my bones shattered."

The group nodded in recognition of the valid point.

"Belmont '07: Robin was in Argentina with Male Gail, and Ted was eating ice cream on the couch watching Lifetime movies. I _tried_ that year."

"He did," Ted confirmed, choosing to ignore the emasculating comment.

"Belmont '06:" Barney continued, "Lily ran off to San Francisco and Marshall was eating ice cream on the couch watching Lifetime movies. I tried that year too."

"Yeah, he's right," Marshall said."

"And Belmont '05 was before we met you, Robin, and we _did_ go that year, and it was _legendary_. Sidebar, B-T-Double U: I need to find some bros who do not have giant vaginas where their dicks should be."

"Belmont '05 _was_ fun," Lily acknowledged. "Barney got drunk, gambled away almost his entire life savings on a horse named Dr. Awesome, and banged a Korean businesswoman in her husband's box suite while he was busy placing a bet."

"_YEAH_ I did," Barney enthused.

The two holdouts exchanged fervent glances.

"Yeah, I guess we did have a good time back then," Marshall said.

"Barney _did_ hook us up with a high roller suite," added Ted.

"And Robin's never been!"

"I would probably enjoy it," Robin said, adding the final nail in the coffin of doubt.

"So it's settled then – we're going to Belmont on Saturday. Now, you guys remember, that since we'll be in the suite, you _have _to suit up accordingly." The guys sighed.

Lily put her hand on Barney's shoulder. "Barney, you know it's supposed to be about 100 degrees on Saturday, right?"

"Your point?"

"Honey, I'm fairly certain that no one should suit up in that weather, not even you."

"Lily, is that a challenge that you're extending?"

"No! Not at all –"

"I'll extend that challenge," Robin interrupted. God, this is why Barney loved her. She really seemed to get him – even his unexplainable competitive streak.

Barney cocked (heh) his eyebrow and looked toward Robin conspiratorially.

"Oh really?"

"Actually, I'll up the ante," she said, amidst the groans of the others (they couldn't handle their combined awesomeness now that they were together).

"I'm listening, Scherbatsky."

"I'll bet that you can't get through this entire summer wearing your suits every day. Today through Labor Day."

"Robin," Ted interjected, "I'm pretty sure that other than last summer when Barney was stuck in a hospital gown, Barney has always been suited up. Even in the summer." Barney just grinned at Robin as way of agreeing with Ted's astute analysis.

"Agreed," Robin said, "but I happen to have word from Bozo the Weatherman at the station that this summer is projected to be the hottest on record. We might not dip below 100 again."

While everyone else groaned at the news of a disgustingly hot and humid summer, Barney scoffed.

"Please. While you may be quivering in your Mountie uniform at the thought of weather above freezing, this man is impervious to heat and humidity. Challenge accepted. Now, what are the terms?"

"If you lose," Robin said, "you have to wear something other than suits for an entire week."

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!" Marshall exclaimed, adding nothing productive to the conversation. "Good one, Robin."

Barney just waved it off. Weak offer. Plus, it would _never_ come to that.

"And if I win, you have to …" Pausing for dramatic effect, Barney leaned into Robin's ear and whispered the dirtiest thing he surmised that Robin would _ever_ consider doing with him. Robin's face at first contorted in disgust, prompting a strong "EW BARNEY" from Lily. Then Robin smiled, a little turned on, and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"You're on."

"YES!" Barney exclaimed. "Now, just to be clear, by suits I'm assuming I get four varieties: awesome suits, suit-jamas for sleeping, bathing suits for pool-slash-beach time, and birthday suit for … well, you know," he said, winking at Robin.

"How often do you swim, really?" Robin asked, skeptically.

"Fine, take it off the list – I'll just swim in my birthday suit."

"No, no. Leave swim suit on there, Robin. What if we go to the beach? Think of the rest of us," Ted said.

"Fine. Suits every day, but you can have suit-jamas and bathing suits."

"And birthday suit," Barney added.

"And birthday suit," Robin agreed, extending out her hand. To the others, she asked, "witnesses?"

"Hmmm, maybe we the full terms of the challenge should be disclosed to us," Marshall objected before receiving a strong smack from his wife. "Or … okay, we'll go with what we've already got."

Robin and Barney shook hands, eyes locked intensely on each other.

It was on.

As was Barney's birthday suit about 20 minutes later. What. Up.

That Saturday morning, a limo was waiting outside of Barney's apartment building to begin the amazing day. As usual, Ranjit was piloting the extravaganza. While Barney was really hoping for Ranjit to partake in some of the glory of Belmont with the gang, Ranjit seemed content with getting a massive tip (heh) from the arrangement, rather than joining in the fun.

By 10am, the whole group was gathered in the GNB suite at the Belmont Horseracing Track.

"Barney, tell me again why we had to be here at 10am when the big race doesn't even go on until 6pm?" Lily wondered, skeptically.

"Yes, the big race is not until 6," Barney explained, "but there it isn't just one race that makes today special. There are 10 races that happen before we even get to the big race. And there are the countless warm-ups and jog-bys that need to be watched in order to make a well-informed gamble."

"So this means we won't be actually interacting with you for most of the day?"

Barney's attention was no longer on Lily by this point.

"Barney?" she tried again.

"Huh?" Barney said, jolting back.

"Exactly," Lily countered.

"Actually, I was just making a point that I couldn't be bothered with your comment. There aren't even any horses out there right now. Give me a break, Lil."

Since the first race didn't begin until noon, they filled their time with some early day drinking, and marveling at the oppressive heat that had already overtaken the suite. Robin took the opportunity to heckle Barney for his choice of suit. Although Barney was certainly less than comfortable in his suit, even if it was a summer blend, he would never admit it to Robin. The suit made him look _good_, and that's the way he wanted to look for her. Today was _their_ day, not a day for her to go off on a date with any other guy. It was about them. Spending $10,000 on a new suit was a small price to pay for that.

As Robin's misguided banter continued throughout the morning, Barney took the opportunity to take Robin's appearance in. Because of the hot weather, Robin had gone for an outfit that, while undeniably classy, showed plenty of skin. It was Barney's favorite look on Robin.

Her hair was made up into a carefree yet elegant ponytail at the nape of her neck. The neck that Barney had just caressed with his tongue less than 12 hours prior. The sundress she had chosen was a pale yellow color, bright like the sun, which worked to offset her dark hair and eye color. It was a color that wouldn't work on many women. It would leave most 9s looking like pale 6s, especially for blond bimbos. Somehow, the magic of Robin Scherbatsky in that dress helped her go from a 10 to an unparalleled 11.

It helped that her cleavage was clearly visible to him as she leaned closer to talk to him.

_Oh God_, Barney thought as Robin leaned toward him, breath hot against his ear. He was getting excited just talking with this girl. In all those months of unrequited love, he never would have imagined that actually being with Robin would be this _hot_. All the time. And even though he'd been with a bimbo earlier that week, he realized at that moment that he _never_ got the kind of jolt from them that he got from Robin, even if she wasn't doing anything particularly erotic.

It should have scared him.

It didn't.

The gang all hung out in the stuffy suite for the first half of the day, minus the time Barney spent at the ticket desk betting on the horses. After going 0-5 on the first five races, Barney was starting to get antsy. And a little bit tipsy. He needed to cool it on the scotch. It was 3pm, for goodness sakes, and he had to stay sharp for the big race. He was just about to open the racing brochure to focus on the next group of horses (and to give him something to do other than to listen to Lily babble on and on about how much she was going to miss those whiny brats that she considered students), when Robin lightly touched his forearm. Barney's eyes drifted from the brochure to meet Robin's eyes, and he smiled sincerely, unguarded. He found himself doing that a lot recently.

"Want to go take a walk for a bit? I need to get out of the suite," Robin said.

"Yeah you do," Barney enthused suggestively, back to normal.

"By walk, I mean a real walk. I want to see what the picnic grounds are like. It looks like fun."

"Scherbatsky, I can see right through your plan," Barney started. "The picnic grounds are out in the sunlight. And it's hot as balls outside. I know you're just trying to win the bet." He grinned with self-satisfaction. He knew Robin very well, and he knew she was incredibly competitive – almost as competitive as him. "But if you want to go for a walk, it'll just be further proof that my awesomeness holds no limits."

Robin laughed and shook her head. Standing up, she said simply, "come if you want. I'm going either way."

That independent streak simultaneously frustrated and turned Barney on. He couldn't resist.

The two of them left Ted, Marshall, and Lily to continue in their boring discussion, and walked behind the grandstand to the open masses of people picnicking and drinking heavily in the grassy areas. They conversed as normal, Barney guessed. He couldn't really remember the exact content of their conversation at this point. They definitely were NOT arm in arm or hand in hand or any of that other coupley stuff. He knew this for a fact because he was also keenly aware that strangely enough, he _wanted_ to hold her hand, but was too afraid to take that step. Which was kind of pathetic, really. Even Ted would have held her hand. But whatever.

"How are you feeling, Barn?" Robin asked playfully. "I'm so hot right now, and I'm only wearing this little dress."

"Fine!" Barney yelped, voice an octave or so higher than his normal register. He couldn't figure out if it was because he most certainly was _not _fine, or because he was seriously turned on by Robin's sexual mind-games.

"Wouldn't it feel so nice to just take off that jacket?" she continued, taunting him. She had erased the space between them, and was now fingering the jacket softly as the two of them slowed to a stop on the walkway. "Wouldn't the feel of the warm breeze against your arms feel heavenly?"

She was evil. Pure evil. The temperature outside was at least 100 degrees, but suddenly the temperature had been raised even more. He was flushed, and it was not from the sweltering heat. He was about to silence her taunts with a passionate kiss when suddenly he was knocked down from behind.

"Whoa, sorry dude," the college aged kid said, hands extended in a gesture of apology. Barney turned to glare at the kid. Average height, not much larger than Barney, dressed ironically in seersucker shorts and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie. On his head was a derby hat. He couldn't have been older than 22 or so, probably a recent college grad here enjoying the races and some beer with friends.

Barney wanted to be pissed, but he was more just amused at the kid. "No problem," he said brushing it off.

"No man, it was my bad. I tripped on the ground here … I'm a bit drunk," he admitted. _No shit,_ thought Barney, as the kid helped him up.

"Seriously, kid, it's ok. I'm only wearing a $10,000 suit, but you know, a little dry cleaning and I'm sure I'll get the dirt out." Why wasn't he pissed? It _was _a $10,000 dollar suit. Maybe it was just that he was amused by his appearance. Maybe it was just being around Robin and being content made him nicer. He was sarcastic, but his sarcasm wasn't malicious.

"No shit, ten grand for a suit? That's intense! Let me make it up to you! Wanna drink? We've got everything here, Captain and Coke, beer, whatever."

Barney laughed and looked at Robin. He arched an eyebrow, as if asking Robin if this was actually happening. The college kid was nice enough but seriously drunk and misguided. Barney was a class act above him and his ironically dressed friends in sundresses and big hats for the girls and faux-preppy attire for the guys. Some of his female friends were pretty hot, upon reflection, and the type of girls Barney Stinson of a few months prior would have tried to pry away from pretentious college douches like the guy who bumped him. But Barney wasn't thinking about that at the time.

"It's _really_ ok –"

"Here! We were just drinking a boot! Dude, you should TOTALLY drink the boot!"

He was about to utter another protest, but was now intrigued. What the hell was a 'boot'? Even if he wanted to say something, the guys' friends had approached Barney and Robin and started obnoxiously chanting at them – "DRINK THE BOOT! DRINK, DRINK THE BOOT!!!"

One of the college kids produced a giant glass boot full of beer.

Barney and Robin locked eyes and had their first telepathic conversation.

_Drink the boot, Barney,_ Robin giggled.

_You drink the boot, Scherbatsky. I've already got dirt on my suit, I'm not looking to get beer all over it too. You might forget this but I'm not as young as I look. I'm certainly not young enough to do THIS shit._

_Aw, c'mon. You don't want to let down your adoring fans!_

_Robin, last time I tried to do things I was too old for, I ended up with pink hair, a terrible hangover, and a fucked-up back. I've learned my lesson. We're out of here._

And without a word, Barney grabbed Robin's hand, abruptly turned away from the drunk college kids, and bolted towards one of the betting stands that were out in the picnic grounds. Robin just followed his lead and laughed unguardedly at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

Despite Barney's reluctance to mingle among the masses following the Boot Incident, and despite the still oppressive heat of being outside, Barney and Robin never made it back to the suite to rejoin the group. Every time a race went on, Barney ran to a betting kiosk to wager more money, and dragged Robin to the nearest television screen (yes, there were television screens placed all throughout the picnic grounds so the drunken hoards could still watch the races) to enthusiastically cheer for his chosen horse, who invariably lost. In between the races, he just walked leisurely with Robin, engaging in conversation about one topic or another. They were unguarded together. Barney wasn't concerned about being "awesome" or "legendary." He was just being himself (which, admittedly, _was_ awesome and legendary). At this point, their hands found each other as they walked, and their fingers intertwined without their knowledge or consent. Once Barney noticed the physical contact, he didn't draw away from it. He actually was _enjoying_ being in the presence of a woman.

Suddenly, the bugle sounded, alerting the crowd that the final race was to begin shortly. Barney sincerely wanted to go back to the suite to watch the big race in person, but he and Robin had wandered too far from the grandstand to be able to make it back in time. Luckily, he had already placed his bet – Mine That Bird was the heavy favorite that year after winning the Kentucky Derby a few weeks prior, and since he had gone 0-10 so far on all his bets, he needed to bet safely on this. Barney Stinson was impetuous and irreverent, but he wasn't stupid.

Grabbing Robin's arm and gently leading her to the giant screen nearby, he felt the pressure of her back leaning up against his chest. He circled his arms around her waist and leaned right back into her, breathing in a quick whiff of her fragrant hair. Robin sighed contentedly, and he could feel her relax in his arms. _She's feeling this too_, Barney thought. _She's feeling just how easy and natural this is. And this is US. Barney and Robin!_

He couldn't stand there with these thoughts for long though, because the screen showed that the race was about to begin.

"You bet on Summer Bird, right Barney?" Robin asked softly as they stood there awaiting the start.

"No, Mine That Bird. Why? Did you place a bet too?"

He felt her body lightly shake as she laughed. "Yeah, but apparently on the wrong bird."

"Well, prepare to have the betting gods smite you, Robin Scherbatsky, because lookie here," Barney started, cocky grin spreading on his face. He released Robin from their embrace and she turned to look at him. His arms were widespread, gesturing at his appearance. "As you see, I am still fully clothed in the _awesomeness_ that is my suit, despite the hot and humid weather. So that's one bet down. And now, your no-name horse is about to get schooled by my Kentucky Derby winner."

Robin fingered Barney's tie and turned her eyes to him, cocking an eyebrow defiantly. "Well, I'd wait to gloat if I were you. Neither bet is complete, and your track record for betting today has been abysmal. I wouldn't be surprised if the betting gods are actually _smiling_ on me today, Stinson."

Before he could rebuff Robin's challenge, the starting gun had gone off and the horses were on the move.

He grabbed Robin's shoulders and spun her around to watch, and didn't remove his hands from that position throughout the duration of the race. As the horses began their run, Robin lightly hopped up and down in excitement, clutching her betting ticket as she did so. Barney wished he could say he was more composed than that, but each one of these races had him as nervously excited as a child opening his birthday presents.

After the first quarter of the race, neither of their picks were in the top four horses, and Robin got noticeably less enthusiastic. But by the halfway mark, Mine That Bird, Barney's pick, had elevated himself to 2nd place, and Summer Bird, Robin's pick, was in 3rd. At that news, Robin squealed with excitement, and Barney's blood pressure was skyrocketing. He had put a _lot_ of money down on this race, as in enough money to probably pay for one of those douchey college kids' student loans. All of a sudden, Summer Bird made its move, propelling itself past Mine That Bird and the race leader, and was barreling down towards the finish line. By the last quarter, Summer Bird was about two horse lengths in front of the pack, and that distance was only growing.

Summer Bird careened through the finish line, winning the Belmont Stakes, with Mine That Bird trailing behind it in 2nd place.

Barney's first reaction was to throw his ticket to the ground and use the most unholy of swear words in the loudest manner possible, but the look on Robin's face literally halted him in his tracks. Her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"I … I won???"

Barney's resolve melted and a genuine grin erupted on his face. "_Yeah_ you did."

"I won! I WON!!!! Barney, I won!!!!"

She jumped up and down like a giddy child, then threw herself into Barney's arms.

"I can't believe I actually won!"

Barney, thrown by the strong show of emotion from Robin, couldn't help but be swept into it. He lifted her off the ground into a giant bear hug, and joined her in her celebration, even though he was certain that he'd lost a _lot_ more money than she had won. It didn't matter to him. The complete and total joy that Robin Scherbatsky was feeling was infectious, and he wanted to experience it with her.

Then, without either of them consciously making the first move, they were making out vigorously in the middle of a crowd of strangers.

***

The Belmont Stakes was what made Barney realize that his love for Robin was of the monogamous variety. Ever since then, he didn't want to be with anyone else. It hadn't been hard to pretend to his friends that things hadn't changed, even though they had. He continued womanizing on the surface if Robin was at work or on a date, but he never got past the phone number stage. He never seduced the bimbos fully. His heart just wasn't in it. There was only one woman that he wanted: Robin.

_And now this girl, apparently_, Barney thought as he once again took in his surroundings. He had to get out of here. He'd lingered too long already, thinking about Robin and that glorious day. It was time to do the sneak out that Barney had done so many times in the past.

In one swift yet gentle motion, he lifted the covers and placed his feet on the ground. That's when he noticed that something was different than usual.

He was still wearing pants.

Barney Stinson _never_ had a conquest then put his pants back on.

That could only mean one thing.

Feverishly, Barney gathered up his remaining belongings and ran out the door of the girl's apartment. Haphazardly re-clothing himself as he ran down the stairs, he wondered how far from 75th and Amsterdam he was, because he needed to get to Robin as quickly as possible. At the street corner, he hailed a cab, and waved a $100 bill in his face, bribing him to go faster than legally or sanely possible down the streets of Manhattan.

When he arrived at the stoop of Ted and Robin's apartment, his excitement faded. Part of him wanted to run up the stairs, pound on the door until Robin opened, and just say "I love you," hoping that everything would work its way into place. That part of him was tired - tired of the rules, tired of the masquerade, tired of keeping up this façade that he'd been showing the world for the better part of ten years. That part of him had been motivating him as he made the trek from that girl's apartment back across town to Robin's. Now Barney was wavering.

It wasn't as easy as just saying "I love you," no matter how much he meant it. "I love you" wouldn't quell Robin's fears about him. It wouldn't make Robin any easier to decipher, and that frustrated the hell out of Barney.

Losing his nerve, he turned away and walked towards the intersection to find a cab back home. Before he could tell Robin how he felt, how he _truly felt_, he had to figure out exactly which Barney it was that Robin wanted: the façade, or the man.

And Barney swore that once he figured that out, he would just give her what she wanted.

Because he loved her.


	8. Marshall and Lily Part 3

A/N: We're getting to the end...ish. Here's the final part of the Marshall and Lily Piece. In case you're keeping track, there should be 3 more chapters after this: a Ted and Columbia Piece, a Barney and Robin Piece, and a general conclusion/epilogue to wrap it all up. I've already got most of the Ted/Columbia and Barney/Robin stuff done, so they should be up and running soonish!

A/N 2: If you're liking this and/or not liking this so far - LET ME KNOW! Please keep reviewing! I take all these comments into account! I mean it! Thanks for all the positive and constructive reviews I've gotten so far! I REALLY REALLY appreciate it. :)

**The Marshall and Lily Piece**

**Part 3**

Marshall Ericksen was not a happy camper. He'd never wanted to be famous. He'd never wanted this kind of notoriety. All he ever wanted was to live a quiet, happy life with Lily and his friends, just like he'd been doing prior to this stupid Nessie adventure. Why couldn't he have just been content with the way his life was, instead of trying to go and "fulfill" himself in Scotland? Now he'd found Nessie, and the scientists were still probing her two weeks later, and the media hullabaloo had barely even started. This wasn't how he envisioned it going down.

Whatever happened to Marshall, the environmental activist? Now he was guilty of violating the trust and sanctity of nature by exposing one of its greatest hidden treasures, and having a hand in her exploitation. He'd fallen away from that path when accepting the job at GNB, but now he was in a completely different universe. He had become a celebrity by helping to destroy Nessie.

How could he live with himself?

Lily didn't understand, not really. She knew how much he deeply cared about the environment, and she nominally understood his fascination with nature's wonders, including Nessie, but she didn't seem to understand why he was so upset. She didn't see him as the hypocrite he was. The disgusting, defiling hypocrite he was.

Marshall had been so happy to see Lily when she first arrived in Scotland, shortly after his discovery. At that time, the news of Nessie was kept under wraps, with only the scientists and a few corporate sponsors knowing about it. Marshall thought that the scientists would do their work, conduct their research, and then let Nessie go back to her habitat in Loch Ness.

How could he have been so naïve?

As soon as news had leaked of Nessie's existence and capture, Marshall became an overnight celebrity, and Nessie's fate was sealed. She was a freak of nature, a marvel, and a cash cow. People would flock from all over to see Nessie, if she were marketed and showcased in the right way. There was no re-releasing her into the wild – she was too precious a commodity, and there was too much money to be made off of her.

Lily sympathized with Marshall at his outrage, but she also pressured him to play into the game. The financiers of the expedition, stood to make a hefty profit off of Nessie, and Marshall would surely reap some of those rewards. For a couple who desperately needed the money in order to alleviate their mountainous debt, Marshall and Lily were in no position to rock the boat, so to speak.

So Marshall kept his mouth shut, did not offer any statement or press release beyond the perfunctory statement leaked shortly after Nessie's discovery:

_Discovering the Loch Ness Monster was the culmination of a life-long dream. I've always felt a certain connection to Nessie, so to be the one to spot her over the railing of our research vessel is indeed thrilling. I'm excited for any scientific breakthroughs that the research team here can uncover due to Nessie's capture, and hope the world can get as much joy from Nessie as I have gotten._

What a load of bull – Marshall hadn't even said that. He'd met with a PR representative the day after discovering Nessie, and yes, he'd told her that finding Nessie was a life-long dream. But he hadn't said _that. _He was horrified when he read the paper the next day and saw his "statement."

He wanted to speak out against this atrocity. But Lily's voice kept echoing inside of his head to just play along.

So he stood in the background during all the press conferences and smiled and nodded. When he was acknowledged by the speaker he would wave to the crowd. He never spoke, even though he was asked to on numerous occasions.

All Marshall wanted to do was to go home, back to New York, back to his friends, back to his normal life, where he could just go on being Marshall Ericksen, master of the Slap-Bet and all other things awesome. Where he didn't have to be Marshall Ericksen, discoverer and ruiner of the Loch Ness Monster.

Finally, after two weeks of riding the insane merry-go-round of press junkets in Scotland, Marshall and Lily could go home, but not in peace. As the sole American on the expedition of the great loch, Marshall was under heavy pressure to hold a press conference once he returned to the United States. Some of that pressure was coming from the media outlets, but most of it was coming from GNB, which had invested some money into the expedition, along with granting Marshall the necessary leave time to undertake the voyage. They also stood to make a profit in this, as well as benefit from him generating a more positive image as a company employee. His hands were tied – he would have to face the press.

All this anxiety was eating away at Marshall as he sat on the plane ride home with Lily at his side. He popped two sleeping pills (which he'd started using in the past week), and was sound asleep at takeoff, never having enjoyed the amenities of his first class seat. It was a small trade off for the welcome reprieve from the craziness of it all.

***

Lily was pacing frantically around the greenroom. Marshall looked like he was about ten seconds from running into the bathroom and vomiting violently. He was pasty, sweating, eyes nervously darting around the room, trying to avoid focusing on any one thing too long. The makeup crew was going to have a hell of a time making Marshall look presentable. Lily was not doing much better.

She knew Marshall had been up half the night writing and re-writing and re-re-writing his statement for the press conference. If that wasn't bad enough to fray his nerves, the thought of fielding questions from the audience of reporters was even more daunting. Lily knew that she wouldn't be able to handle that kind of pressure, and yet here was Marshall, thrust into this situation. He hadn't asked for this. It wasn't like he'd planned on catching Nessie and becoming an overnight celebrity, his face plastered on magazines like the _National Enquirer_ and legitimate newspapers like the _New York Times_. Lily surmised that, deep down, Marshall didn't even truly believe that Nessie was out there, that his attachment to the supernatural beast was more of a way to keep firmly attached to the younger, wide-eyed, and curious self of his childhood.

It killed Lily that this pressure was something he was going through alone. He'd had no friends on that ship, and since he was the one who'd found Nessie, there was an inordinate amount of interest in him and his story. There was no one for Marshall commiserate with, not really. Of course Lily was there for him in whatever capacity he needed, but Lily realized that she couldn't begin to even understand the pressure that was on Marshall right now.

Marshall was being pushed from all sides. The scientists wanted him to accurately reflect their work, and emphasize its importance. The financial backers wanted Marshall to sensationalize the story as much as possible, in order to reap every last dollar from the Nessie discovery. GNB wanted Marshall to cast them in the most positive light possible, as a caring company that encourages its employees to reach for their dreams, rather than a company that had ruthlessly cut sizeable numbers of their workforce due to the economic recession. There were so many directions that Marshall was being pulled in, and none of them reflected Marshall's interests even the tiniest bit. That angered Lily, yet she was powerless to help him with this gigantic weight.

All she could do was to be there for him. And she was doing the best she could.

_What are you doing, s_he asked herself. If she was going to be helping Marshall, pacing around the room and worrying herself into oblivion was most definitely _not _the answer.

She sat down in a chair next to Marshall and pulled herself close to him. She placed her hands gently on his, which he was now staring down at in his lap as her nervously kept tapping his left foot on the ground. At her touch, he instantly mellowed a bit. She cast a sidelong look at Lily, a sort of nervous half-smile on his lips. He was trying to be encouraging, trying to show Lily his strength, but fear was etched into his expression. Lily tightened her grip on Marshall, as if she could transmit all her strength into him to help him get through this.

In that moment, Marshall seemed so much _older_ than he usually did. Usually he was simply the incarnation of a fun loving kid in a 31-year-old's body, giggling at Barney's stupid jokes and engaging in asinine arguments with Ted about the semantics of Star Wars. This version of Marshall was unabashedly adult, full of worry, obligation, and commitment. It was as if this Nessie business had stolen Marshall of his innocence. That look that Marshall was giving her, that feeling that she felt radiating from Marshall at that moment, was the look, the feeling, of innocence lost.

She couldn't bear that it was Nessie who had taken Marshall's innocence from him.

She instantly knew what he had to do.

"Marshall, honey?"

"Yes, Lilypad," he responded, hangdog eyes breaking her heart just a little bit more.

And she told him her plan. At first he was reluctant to agree, but after a few minutes of hashing out exactly what he'd say on camera, the dark cloud of worry seemed to lift from his large shoulders. The Marshall Ericksen she knew, she loved, was back.

That meant everything to her.

***

The cameras were all pointed in his direction. The lights were nearly blinding. How did Robin deal with being on camera every single day??? Marshall had never felt this self conscious before, even when he had his issues with "reading magazines" at the office, or when his clothes were stolen during a shower after football practice back in high school. No, the intensity of the cameras and the stares of the roomful of people were a much worse source of anxiety and self consciousness than anything Marshall had ever experienced before.

The weight of what he was about to say might also have been contributing to this feeling.

Marshall tried to swallow, to moisten his mouth enough to begin his statement, but he was parched, barren. He tried to breathe, to nourish his body with cool, sweet oxygen, but it was as if the room was full of water. He was drowning up on stage, with the entire world watching.

Then his eyes found his friends.

First, he saw Robin among the media. While the other reporters were looking at him anxiously, Robin was simply smiling, and gave him a quick nod and thumbs up when his gaze met hers. That gave him his first gasp of air since he'd walked on stage, his first inclination that maybe he was not quite so alone. He noticed Robin's subtle gesture towards the right of the crowd, and then his eyes came upon his other friends. First he saw Ted, eyes full of pride and wonder at the sight of his best friend up on the stage. Marshall couldn't help but smile a tiny bit at the look on Ted's face. Next to Ted sat Barney, who was wearing a similar expression. Barney caught Marshall looking at him, however, and gave him one of his trademarked Barney Stinson grins. Then Marshall found the person he'd been looking for the whole time – Lily. When their eyes met, Marshall finally felt the oceanic pressure ease, and Marshall was finally able to breathe normally. He wasn't alone. Lily was there with him every step of the way, just like they had been for years, and would be for the rest of their lives.

It was time to do what he had come to do.

He cleared his throat, and read his hastily scribbled statement that he and Lily had constructed only twenty minutes prior.

_"On July 16, 2009, a miracle occurred for me. After thirty-one years of waiting with joyous and boyish hope, I finally came face to face with the Loch Ness Monster, more affectionately known as Nessie. All my life, I'd been taken aback in wonder by nature's creatures, and at a young age I was determined to become a defender of the environment. At some point, my interest in nature lead to an interest in some of the supernatural – knowing to steer clear of Sasquatch, or spending time on my honeymoon searching for Nessie was a no-brainer for me._

"_Although my life has been sidetracked by adulthood – the commitments of creating a life and a career weighing on me – I have always been adamant about the things I believe in. This was part of the reason I embarked upon this journey just a few short weeks ago. I was adamant about searching for Nessie, and building my connection with this very beautiful part of nature._

"_That passion that led me on my journey is the same passion that led me here today, in front of America and the entire world, to publically denounce the recent actions to keep Nessie in captivity for the recreational enjoyment of humans. I did not seek out Nessie out of some selfish hope to profit from her. It appalls and disgusts me to see that some corporations are willing to take such a beautiful creature and objectify her for their own greed. Nature is full of mysteries and miracles, and this exploitation of Nessie has ruined one of the greatest dreams of my life, and I will not rest until this mistake is rectified and Nessie is returned back into her natural habitat._

_"I apologize to all of you in the media, but I will not be taking any questions now, and I will not be taking any requests for interviews at this time, aside from my obligation to Robin Scherbatsky at "Come On, Get Up New York!" If you want to hear my rationale for today's announcement, or care to hear my plans at rescuing Nessie, be sure to watch her program tomorrow at 4am._

_"Thank you."_

And without another word, or another glance at the hundreds of shocked faces in the audience, Marshall left the podium, walked offstage, and closed the door to the green room behind him. He might have just ended his career at GNB, but he reignited the passion that had lain dormant in Marshall for the past few years.

He hadn't felt this alive in a VERY long time.

Lily was the first person he saw after the press conference. She ran into his open arms in the green room, and she was smiling broadly, ear to ear.

"You did it Marshmallow, you did it!!!"

"Thanks to you, Lilypad!"

He didn't think that she would understand him. He thought that she would pressure him to play the game. With their enormous debt and the burden of an apartment on them, he thought for sure that Lily would have been practical and stressed the benefits of toeing the company line over following his heart. Thinking those things almost crushed Marshall before this press conference.

He never should have doubted her.

He should have known that Lily Aldrin was loyal, beneficent, and wise. He should have known that she understood Marshall better than she understood herself half the time. Even if they had fought over him going to Scotland, he should have known that her love for him would surpass any doubts she might have had in the beginning. He should have known that, above all else, she would be there for him.

Marshall didn't think he'd _ever_ loved Lily more than he loved her at that moment, triumphant from their victory over the corporate greed that had been killing him. They had done it together, wholeheartedly, as a single entity.

This was love. This was marriage. This was a lifetime of hope and contentment.

**End of Lily and Marshall Piece**

(Stay tuned for the conclusion of Ted and Columbia's Part, Barney and Robin's Part, and a general epilogue to close this story out …)


	9. Ted and Columbia Part 3

A/N: Final installment of the Ted/Columbia storyline ... we're getting there, slowly but surely.

**The Ted and Columbia Piece**

**Part 3**

He was totally Tedding out about this. He knew this, and yet he couldn't stop. The gang did call it Tedding out for a reason, Ted mused. And since when did Ted start thinking of it as Tedding out?

No matter. He had more serious issues than his friends' blatant mockery of his qualms.

His short affair with Columbia was threatening to get him in a _lot_ of trouble at Columbia. University, that is.

Stupid Barney. If Barney hadn't been all riled up by some ridiculous fight with Robin, he wouldn't have been in hyper-wingman mode, and maybe Ted wouldn't have ever hooked up with Columbia. The girl, that is.

It didn't help that she was somewhat psychotic. While Ted technically couldn't blame Barney for _that_, Barney probably should've been able to detect Columbia's crazy vibe and helped Ted steer clear. Barney knew that Ted's female analytical skills didn't extend beyond recognition of the crazy eyes. By comparison, in about 10 seconds, Barney's warped evil-genius mind would have plotted her coordinates on the Crazy-Hot Scale, assessed the situation, and made the right decision. Which, in this case, would have been to run very fast in the opposite direction.

Now Ted was stuck in a very unfortunate position. If he broke it off with Columbia, she was possibly spiteful enough to go to Dr. Glenn and get him in serious trouble. If he kept dating her, they could get caught, and it would also be a bad situation for him. But in the department's eyes, "dating" was probably preferable to "four night stand over the course of two weeks," which is what it presently was.

It was bad enough that he'd slept with her that first time, two weeks ago, but why on earth did he respond to her advances a few days later? She wasn't a nice person, and although she was very attractive, she wasn't even remotely Ted's type.

As Ted got ready to attend Marshall's press conference, he resolved to level with Columbia. He couldn't live in fear of her retribution. If she seemed really upset by his rejection, he'd fess up to the Architecture Department first thing in the morning, and hope they didn't frown upon him too much. It would be better than her telling them.

_Why me?_ Ted thought.

Columbia decided to tag along to the press conference, hoping to meet Ted's friends during their celebratory drink(s) at MacLaren's afterwards. If Ted was lucky and both of them got to the press conference early enough, he could get all this over with before the pictures of Nessie were unveiled.

No more Tedding out. Time for action.

***

Columbia scaled the stairs of the Columbus Circle subway stop quickly, trying to keep up the flow of the human traffic, and fighting off stubborn elbows of the commuters rushing home after a long day of work.

A 6pm press conference was just inconvenient in this city. The added volume on the streets from the commuters rushing to Long Island or Westchester or New Jersey was an unwelcome addition to the already crowded sidewalks and subway cars of Columbia's beloved city.

Maybe if Ted was with her, Columbia wouldn't have felt so volatile. But he'd _insisted_ on simply meeting her in front of CNN's New York Headquarters only a half hour before the press conference began. That was not exactly chivalrous.

Why was she even here anyway? She didn't know this Marshall guy. She didn't care about some lame expedition to find the Loch Ness Monster, even if it _had_ been successful. The news of the discovery, and Marshall's hand in it, had saturated the 24 hour cable news stations, and even the networks. She was utterly sick of hearing about it. But for some reason it was important to Ted that she be there.

Ted. Ted Mosby. Ted Mosby, architect. Columbia smiled as she thought about Ted while she was standing outside of the CNN building, waiting for him to arrive.

She knew on that first day of class, about a month ago, that she wanted him. And Columbia always got what she wanted. It was two weeks into her relationship, however, and she felt that things were a bit … off. He was claiming to be busy a lot, working on lesson plans for the class and stuff, but she wasn't so sure. She knew that he was a regular at that MacLaren's place, and she was pretty sure that he was still going there even though he was supposed to be working.

That bothered Columbia. A lot. Now that she thought about it, the smile and warm feeling she'd just had faded yet again. Truthfully, she didn't see much of a future with Ted beyond the end of the summer class. As attractive as he was, he was kind of boring – always talking about architecture when they were together, assuming that she gave a shit. For Columbia, once class was over, she didn't want to think about architecture again until the next class. Not possible with Ted. Even though she was bored, however, she figured she'd at least try to stick it out until the course was over, hoping to get some final exam help from Professor Mosby himself.

Finally, she saw Ted approach. He gave her a kind of half-wave, a pretty awkward one, actually, and a kiss on the cheek for hello.

"Heyyyy, you made it," Ted drawled, exaggerating the greeting in a way that was very disconcerting to Columbia. She swallowed that feeling down though to respond.

"Yup. Almost got trampled by commuters, but I'm here. Ready to go in?" she said, turning to make her way through the revolving doors of the building.

"Actually," Ted started, reaching for her arm, halting her progress. Columbia turned to face him, her green eyes piercing into his own deep brown ones. "Columbia, we should talk." Columbia didn't say anything. This was not good.

"There's something I've really been struggling with the past two weeks. Columbia, I think you're really a great person, and obviously very beautiful, but I just can't shake the feeling that this is … you know, _wrong_. You're a student in my class. And even though it's not ethically a problem because I'm not giving you your final grades or anything, I just don't feel – "

"Wait, Ted. You're not giving me my grades in this class?"

"Well, no." Ted shifted uncomfortably. "I'm co-professoring and Dr. Glenn is the senior professor, so really _he_ has the say in the final grades."

"But you graded the last exams."

"Columbia, this is my first class. Dr. Glenn's been breathing down my neck for the past month. You have no idea what kind of stress I'm under. Even if I am the one who grades the exams and papers, Dr. Glenn checks up on everything."

Something in Columbia snapped. Ted was pathetic – whiny, child-like, and not at all the sagacious professor he at first seemed to be. And yet _he_ was breaking up with _her_?

"Fine, Ted. Have it your way. We're done. I don't know why I even bothered." At her sudden explosion, Ted's face contorted into a look of shock and hurt. "Your stories are _boring_, your lectures are _boring_, and you are _sad_ and _pathetic_, and you know why I can say this to you without any fear of repercussion? Because you have no power over me anyway!"

With Ted still gaping at her, she began to walk back towards the subway station, heels clicking the pavement loudly as she stormed off.

"Oh, and also!" she called out from about twenty feet away, "refusing to pick up your girlfriend on your way to a function where she doesn't know anyone is just an asshole move. You're a jerk, Ted Mosby!"

And without letting him counter her remarks in any way, she left with a flourish.

Columbia decided to withdraw from the architecture class the next day. Maybe sociology would be a better fit for her.

***

Ted simply stared as Columbia stormed away from the building and hurled ridiculous epithets at him. After she was out of sight, Ted regained the ability to react. He simply shook his head and muttered "wow, what a Grinch!"

He hesitated only a moment or two longer before he entered the CNN building and signed in to attend Marshall's press conference. He hadn't seen Marshall in what felt like forever, he was greatly looking forward to hearing what he had to say about this whole Nessie business. When he'd talked to him on the phone the day before, Marshall had seemed reserved and nervous about stepping into the limelight. Seemingly overnight, Marshall had become a pseudo-celebrity, with news of the Nessie capture gracing all the major news outlets. Ted had even saved some of the more interesting news headlines to share with Marshall when he came home. Marshall had been Ted's best friend long enough that Ted knew that he'd appreciate it.

By the time Ted was escorted into the large room, his thoughts of Columbia had almost completely faded. He'd done the right thing, he had no regrets, and he was pretty sure that as crazy as she was, she wasn't going to go to Dr. Glenn, not after the outburst she'd had about her grade. His mind was at ease as he entered the room, thinking solely of the big moment that his best friend has in front of him.

The first person he saw when he entered was Robin, who was covering the story for her station, since she had a personal connection with Marshall. In fact, because of Robin's position as friend of the celebrity, she'd secured Marshall's only one on one interview to be with her the following morning on her show. She was visibly excited as she greeted Ted.

"Hey Ted," she said, eyes sparkling as she recognized him. She was dressed impeccably and professionally in a well-tailored suit. Ted chuckled as he clearly saw Barney's influence on her. He hadn't seen her that polished in awhile. Robin continued, "I'll be up here with my camera crew, but Barney and Lily are mulling around somewhere. If you can find them, I'm pretty sure they saved two seats for … oh, what happened to …?"

"Columbia?" Ted supplied. He shrugged and looked sheepishly at Robin. "That's over with. She was seriously a huuuuuge Grinch."

"Awwww, I'm sorry Ted" she said with genuine considerateness and care. Sometimes Ted was amazed by how he and Robin were able to change gears from being in a relationship to becoming really great friends. It was difficult, _very _difficult, but completely and totally worth it, because he knew she was being sincere with him. Friends like Robin didn't come often or easily for Ted. Suddenly, Ted snapped out of his reverie, as Robin was looking expectantly for Ted's response.

"It's okay," Ted said quickly, jumping back into the conversation a bit awkwardly. "I'm gonna go find the others. See you at MacLaren's later?"

"You know it. Although I can only stay for a bit, since I'll have to be up early for Marshall's big interview in the morning. You're gonna watch me for once, right?"

Ted chuckled. "I guess I'll have to. Okay I'll see you in a bit."

It took a bit of time to scan the crowd, but he eventually was able to locate Barney and Lily, sitting at the very front of the public rows, with two seats saved on Barney's left. Ted pushed through the crowd and sat next to his friend.

"Hey man," Barney said in greeting. "Glad you could finally make it. Whatever happened to the 9?"

Ted just shook his head as way of explanation.

"You ditched her?" Lily interjected. "I never even got to meet her! I'm gone for two weeks and I miss out on everything!"

"Pshht, you missed out on nothing, Lil, she was horrible," Barney said. Ted's look of surprise encouraged Barney to explain himself. "Ted, come on. You know she was. She might have been a 9, but if I'd been a bit less … compromised by my own situation, I would have figured out pretty quickly that she was most definitely _not_ worth the trouble. Your fault for not recognizing the warning signs. Even more your fault for staying with her for two weeks anyway."

Ted and Barney exchanged a meaningful glance as they both recalled the events from that night. They'd never discussed it, but Ted knew that Barney had gone home with the other girl. Unfortunately, he'd been so caught up with all the Columbia drama that he hadn't called him out on it earlier. Now was neither the time nor place to start a discussion about it.

Unlike Robin's ease and happiness that Ted had experienced only minutes earlier, Barney's demeanor had become jumpy. Clearly, all was not right in Barney's mind, even if Robin was content. These two knuckleheads had to figure out a way to get on the same page, or they were going to ruin their chance at happiness. And it was obvious to Ted that the person who stood to get hurt from this arrangement was Barney.

Lily was about to chime into the non-discussion, when she was interrupted by the activity on stage. The press conference was set to begin, and Marshall was taking the stage.

As Ted beamed up toward his friend on stage, he couldn't help thinking how bizarre this entire summer had been. If he'd been asked what their lives would have looked like even two months ago, shortly after his birthday and the Missy the Goat incident, he would never, ever, in a million years, have been able to picture their lives like this. Well, maybe he could have pictured the Barney and Robin drama. But he couldn't have pictured that Marshall would have found the Loch Ness Monster and become famous, and that Lily cured her summer boredom by joining him there.

Most certainly, he couldn't have pictured himself in the place he now was. In that short moment of contemplation leading up to Marshall's press conference, Ted had three revelations. First of all, that he had almost finished a successful summer semester as co-professor at Columbia University, and would embark as a professor in his own right starting in just a few short weeks. Secondly, that he had proven to be the most stable of his friends as they dealt with their own neuroses and issues that summer. _That_ was an outstanding accomplishment in and of itself, and it had gone without acknowledgement for too long. Finally, that he had dated a student, after only a few weeks of actually being a professor. He was glad he'd gotten that phase out of the way, because it was a dangerous and ill-advised path. Mentally chiding himself to _never_ allow something like that to happen again, Ted settled in to watch Marshall tackle the press corps after his astounding journey to Scotland.

It wouldn't be long before Ted would find himself on the flip side of two out of three of those revelations. But that's a story for another day.


	10. Barney and Robin Part 3

A/N 1: This is the final chapter to the Barney and Robin piece. Stay tuned for an epilogue to wrap it all up. Thanks to everyone for bearing with me over the past month or so. This fan fiction stuff is exhausting!! Keep reviewing please! :)

A/N 2: There is a lot of changing in perspectives, especially in the second half of this chapter. I think it's pretty clear who's perspective you see at any given time, but if it's unclear then PLEASE review and I'll fix it. I don't have a beta, and I'm usually pretty good at catching problems, but I worry about this.

**The Barney and Robin Piece**

**Part 3**

It took Barney exactly two weeks to figure out that "what Robin wanted" was not exactly "what Robin _really_ wanted." He was good with women's sex drives, but he was not good with women's feelings.

He should have realized that when Robin said "I want the real Barney" – aka: the womanizing cad that she'd met almost 5 years prior – she meant "I want real Barney I met on the outside, but I want the Barney you actually _are _on the inside."

Unfortunately for Barney, he wasn't fluent in women-speak. It was a language he should have learned from Ted or Marshall years before, but he'd never picked up an interest. He'd spent most of his time more interested with a woman's body language than he was with a woman's English language.

It was the day of Marshall's press conference. It started at 6pm, but he'd gotten out of work early and met with Robin for a drink or two before her big moment as a correspondent for her news station. They'd met at a bar near the CNN headquarters so she could easily transition to her work persona.

By the time Robin arrived, Barney was already one drink deep, and he had a scotch on the rocks waiting for Robin.

"Scherbatsky, it's about time you graced me with your presence," he said as Robin slipped onto the stool of the unfamiliar bar.

"I didn't realize that '4:00' meant actually 4:00," Robin confided.

"Scherbatsky, for you I always mean what I say."

"Including being monogamous?" Robin challenged. She instantly winced after touching upon such a sore subject. For nearly the past month, Barney's admission of monogamy had gone unaddressed.

Instantly, upon breaching the topic, Barney recalled the infuriating discussion he and Robin had had about his admission.

***

"Barney, it's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment," Robin had said the day after Barney admitted his monogamy. She was pacing across the living room of her and Ted's apartment, Barney's eyes trailing her the whole time. "It's just that I don't want you to have to give up who you are!"

Barney knotted his hands together, back and forth, left hand over right hand, then right hand over left hand. He wanted to tell Robin that he wouldn't be giving up _anything_ by committing to her, that THAT was the reason why he was finally able to do it. But he couldn't fathom those words. It wasn't even that he couldn't string them together, but that he couldn't physically create those words in his mind that led him to believe that perhaps she was right.

"Give up who I am …" Barney said, stagnating the conversation, "that's not something I really see happening." He hoped that would placate Robin for the time being, allowing him to gather his thoughts until he could effectively tell Robin how he felt.

"Exactly," Robin exclaimed, jumping upon his inadequacy at explaining his point of view. "You don't want to change who you are, and I certainly don't want to be the person who forces you to change who you are. You'd just end up hating me. That's not what either of us want."

Barney wanted to scream. He wanted to jump up and down, and throw a temper tantrum until Robin sat down and actually _listened_ to what it was he wanted. Instead of screaming, Barney just sighed. She didn't understand that he _did_ want to change who he was for her. That he had already made a change for her.

She wouldn't understand that he was still himself – he was still lewd and crude, and most of all awesome – but he could be himself and still be with her and her alone. He wasn't defined by his womanizing, even though it was a big part of the old Barney Stinson. But that wasn't all there was to him. The best part about being with Robin for Barney was that he could change himself, yet not change who he actually was on the inside.

He wanted to explain all this to Robin, but he didn't know where to begin. Again, he was having a problem with producing the words necessary to explain himself.

That was getting Barney frustrated, and when Barney got frustrated, he lashed out.

"Well Robin, maybe I've only been monogamous because it seemed like a classier way to conduct myself than to go on a date with a guy, sleep with him, then still come crawling back to me at the end of the night for Round 2. Maybe I thought I was just being considerate. I'm sorry I was so horribly mistaken," he said, words dripping with sarcasm and spite.

Robin was visibly taken aback at this change in direction. She clearly didn't expect to be put on the defensive in this discussion. She seemed to be hoping for a quick and easy return to the normal operating procedures. But Barney was tired of "normal."

"Barney, I -." She stammered a bit, trying to string together a coherent sentence, something that clearly both of them were struggling to do. After a moment of painful anticipation, in which Barney eyed her, she collected herself. "I'm sorry I did that, I didn't realize it bothered you."

"Why would it, right?" Barney sneered, mockingly. "I'm just Barney, right? So desperate to get laid that I'd crave you even when I only got sloppy seconds?"

"Barney, you _know_ I don't think of you like that."

"Really? Really Robin? Because that's what it seems like …" He paused, trying to keep his anger in check. He took a deep breath, Robin nervously and expectantly staring at him.

Suddenly Barney didn't feel like fighting anymore. If he went any farther, he'd start revealing things – feelings – that he just wasn't ready to. Yes, he loved Robin, but he'd never actually _said_ it to her, besides that Mosbying conversation in the hospital after Ted's goat incident. Yes, he was an incredibly insecure person, but he'd never talked about it with her. He knew that she knew these things, but they had always remained unspoken, and Barney wasn't ready to say them just yet.

Sighing again, Barney signaled defeat. He began speaking again, tone deflated. "I guess it's not your fault, Robin. It's in our rules that we are just keeping this casual, so you have the right to sleep with who you want. And so do I," he continued, bravado starting to infiltrate his words, nourishing and strengthening his inner awesomeness, "and I've been missing out on the gullible bimbos for too long now … maybe Barney Stinson needs to get back in the game …"

A tentative and relieved smile crossed the lips of Robin Scherbatsky as she took his hand.

"I'm sure they've been missing you too, Barney," she said.

Barney suppressed a wince, and instead plastered on his patented cocky grin (who cared if it was fake). "Pssht, monogamy, who needs it, right?"

"Right," she said, enveloping her arms around his middle. She craned her head to his ear and whispered to him, "but I promise, no more sloppy seconds."

It was a compromise of sorts, the kind that left Barney feeling very ill at ease.

***

"Scherbatsky, for you I always mean what I say."

"Including being monogamous?" Robin challenged, wincing at the reference to their fight.

"Being monogamous?" Barney repeated almost without missing a beat, catching Robin's eye and winking seductively at her. "That's practically not in the Stinson gene pool. If it is, it's a recessive trait. And this man is_ all dominant_." There, he could save face. Robin smiled, but only half heartedly.

Barney wanted so badly to read her. He thought he was able to for awhile there, but that was before she devastated Barney with her reluctance towards their relationship. His eyes met hers, but only briefly, and his window of opportunity was gone.

"Well that scotch isn't going to drink itself, Scherbatsky," he said, breaking the tension and changing the subject. This whole Robin situation was getting harder by the day – and he thought the hardest part would be the initial leap of telling her how he felt. Little did he know that Robin Scherbatsky was the most convoluted enigma on the planet. He bet that psychologists and rocket scientists couldn't figure her out. Ted deserved a fucking medal for wrangling her into his web, and riding that roller coaster for a year. Barney was only at the three month point – or was he still at zero? He couldn't tell.

It had been two weeks since that almost-hook up with the random girl (Grace? Stephanie?) from MacLaren's. He hadn't told anyone what happened, although he'd seen the looks Ted had given him since that night. Since then, he'd focused on trying to read Robin Scherbatsky and follow her lead. But two weeks of this was wearing him out emotionally and physically. He really couldn't take much more of pretending that he was okay with this arrangement, and he still couldn't figure out Robin's strict adherence to it. As it was, it took almost all of his energy to formulate a normal conversation with Robin at the bar, and he wasn't even sure if he was succeeding. Luckily for him on this front, Robin was once again proving how oblivious she was to this erratic behavior in Barney.

So Barney just kept it up a bit longer. She had a big few hours ahead of her, and it would be selfish of him to throw her off right then. But he couldn't hold out much longer. Maybe it was the time. Maybe it was now or never …

***

As Barney ordered another round of drinks for them (two beers, this time), and Robin wondered if a second drink was a good idea, she couldn't help but look around the bar. There were many other people there, some sharing a Happy Hour drink with coworkers, and some couples rendezvousing after a long day's work, but Robin noticed that many of the eyes in the room were drawn to her and Barney. Together, they possessed a magnetism that neither of them possessed on their own. They were in fact, as Barney might say, awesome squared.

Barney slid her beer towards her, grinning that puppy-dog smile that Robin loved – er, adored, and had slowly gotten used to over the past few months.

Moments like this made Robin so comfortable around Barney. They talked and bantered like normal, but they kept giving each other these quick loving – er, adoring – (ah, fuck it, loving) glances. Her "Bros by Day, Lovers by Night" analogy was getting blurred more and more as each day progressed, and she was almost not freaking out about it anymore. Almost.

But the fact remained that this was Barney. Yes, this was a slightly different, slightly more mature Barney, but he was still a very dangerous beast as far as her heart was concerned.

It was like with her dogs. _Not that Barney is like my dogs_, she actively thought, catching herself in her own analogy. But she continued anyway. It was like with her dogs. Even though her dogs were well trained and housebroken and primarily safe to be around, they were still animals at heart, and had the potential to hurt Robin if the wrong trigger went off.

Barney was also an animal at heart, and he could also really hurt Robin if the wrong trigger went off. The difference is that the injuries that Robin could sustain from Barney were infinitely more monumental and scary than any injuries she could sustain from her dogs. Yes, she was pretty sure she loved him, but Robin was also afraid of him.

"Scherbatsky," Barney said, breaking her from her thought process.

"Wha -? What was that? Sorry," she spazzed.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Then he tensed up, visibly struggling to get something out. He sighed audibly, trying to relax his tense shoulders. He suddenly looked very small, like a child caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. After a moment, he continued. "Nothing, except … I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Suddenly, Robin remembered why they were there in the first place. "Wait! What time is it?"

"Um, about …" Barney paused as he looked at his watch, "5:15?"

"SHIT! Shit, I've gotta go. I have to be at CNN for hair and makeup in five minutes. We'll talk afterwards? You're going to MacLaren's, right?"

He swallowed, straightened his tie, and darted his eyes away, clearly flustered. Was it from whatever he wanted to talk about, or Robin's sudden and spastic departure?

"Yeah, I'll meet you upstairs in the apartment first. What do you think, like 7:30? 8?"

"Let's go with 8. I'll have some follow up work to do here first."

"Okay then," he said. "Good luck with the broadcast. Not that you need it, because obviously you're gonna be legen – wait for it –"

She shut him up with a good hard kiss, then hurried out the door, hearing Barney shout "dary!" as she pushed the heavy door open.

Robin trotted down 59th Street towards the building, and her thoughts returned to Barney.

The past two weeks with him were about the happiest she'd had in a while. At least, when they were together they were. When they were apart, Robin found herself thinking about him more and more. She was jealous when he womanized in MacLaren's, and her heart wasn't at all in the last two dates she'd had with other guys. Did she seriously just think to herself that she loved his dopey smile? Who was she turning into?

As Robin went through the revolving door of the building, she realized that it wasn't a question of "if" she could let Barney hurt her anymore. It was too late for that. She was too far gone.

By the time she got to the security guard, entering her credentials into the system, she was almost in tears.

She was in love with Barney Stinson.

In love.

At the elevator, she was already trying to push it out of her mind and pull herself together – this press conference was too big and too important. She couldn't ruin it with her stupid emotions.

She was in love with Barney Stinson.

Not like.

Not adore.

In love.

When she glided into her makeup chair (2 minutes late, but who's counting), she was in Robin Scherbatsky, award-deserving journalist, mode. Her smile was as plastered on as her makeup was.

She was in love with Barney Stinson.

That frightened her to no end.

***

After Marshall's inspiring press conference, Robin had to deal with a lot of logistical crap that she'd forgotten about in her past few stints as an anchor. Being a field reporter was not a fun gig, and she was, quite possibly for the first time, grateful for her position as an anchor for _Come On, Get Up New York!_. It took a bit longer to get out of there than she'd anticipated, and she also experienced frustration trying to get a cab to take her the 15 blocks to her and Ted's apartment.

She worried that Barney had already gone down to MacLaren's when she strolled into her apartment at 8:30, but there he was, sitting on her couch, alone. For a split second, she once again got to see the inner Barney, and this time it was not a pretty sight. It was only a glance, but he seemed nervous, broken, and exasperated, head down and staring at the half-empty beer he clutched in his hands. Before she could even process the scene, his mask was back on as he jumped up to greet her.

"_There_ you are Scherbatsky. I was just about to call the cops to figure out what happened to you."

"Sorry, Barn, it just took a bit longer to get things done than I would have liked. You didn't have to wait for me – I would have met up with you and everyone else at MacLaren's."

"That's okay, I didn't mind waiting," he said, allowing a trace of vulnerability to enter his tone. His eyes had a bit of a pleading look to them as they met with Robin's. "And, you know, I just wanted to talk to you about something first …"

"Okay okay, that's right," Robin said, momentarily flustered. "Let me just go get changed and washed up first, okay? I feel a bit like death right now from all the lights and the heat of the crowd, and as awesome as the suit makes me look, I'm gonna have to beg off from suiting up tonight if you don't mind," she said, sidling up to him and kissing him softly on the lips to convince him.

"For once, I promise not to fight on the suiting up rule, Scherbatsky. Go ahead, I'll wait."

Robin hesitantly left Barney's side and crossed the apartment to the bathroom. As she quickly prepared for her shower, a knot formed in her stomach, and tightened more and more. What was wrong with Barney? He'd been mostly normal while at the bar before the press conference. Or at least … he'd seemed normal. No, that wasn't right. Now that she reflected on it, he wasn't normal at all. Nor had he been normal in a long time. That ease and comfort that she had felt around Barney for most of the time they had been together had been conspicuously missing in the past few weeks. And Robin was so oblivious that she hadn't noticed until just now. And now Barney wanted to "talk." _Uuuuuugh_, Robin thought, after she'd been in the shower for as long as she could. _Time to face the music._

Slowly, slowly, Robin blow dried her hair and applied her makeup while standing awkwardly in her bathrobe. She was stalling. She hated heart to heart conversations. It was one thing to have had them with Ted, but Barney was a different animal entirely.

Why did she keep comparing Barney to an animal?

Finally, when she felt that she couldn't hide anymore, she trudged out of the bathroom, eyes downcast, to face Barney in the living room. As soon as she raised her eyes, her worst fear was realized.

INTERVENTION.

_Fuck_.

***

"Barney …?" he heard Robin meekly call from the living room. "What's going on?"

Clutching his beer in his right hand, he emerged from the kitchen and leaned against the dividing wall with his left. _Here we go,_ he thought. _Time to face the music._

"Robin," he started, his voice cracking just the tiniest bit. "This is the only way I think I can get you to listen."

The look on her face was one of apprehension and dread. She sat herself on the couch and took a deep breath. "Well … ?"

She wasn't going to make this easy on Barney. He could spend ten minutes just getting out the three-to-five words he wanted to say, or he could just break the ice and say it. Barney Stinson was a man of action, there would be no Tedding out about this. He sat down next to Robin on the couch, grabbed her hands, and looked her square in the eyes. There was no backing down from this, and even though Barney was nervous about this intervention, he was ready. It was time.

"I'm in love with you."

Instantly her eyes widened - in either shock or horror, Barney could not tell. "Barney, I … I don't know what to say."

Barney swallowed, trying to get the saliva pumping back into his mouth so he could say what he wanted to say. There was no way to tactfully put this, so he decided that for the rest of this conversation, he was just going to be honest with himself. If unsavory feelings came out, they came out. If he got hurt, he got hurt. If he hurt her, he hurt her. This was no time to save face. It was now or never.

"Well, Robin, to be honest, if you don't know what to say now, after three months of this, I don't know what to say to you anymore. I can't go on like this."

"Barney." She eyed him skeptically.

"I'm dead serious. I wouldn't use the intervention banner for just anything."

"What do you want me to say, Barney?"

"I want you to be honest with me. For once. Because goddamn it Robin I can't read you." His voice was shaking, growing angrier by the word. "I've been trying here, I've been _killing myself_, trying to give you what you want. But you know what, Robin? I've got no fucking idea what you want, because you are the fucking _queen_ of mixed messages. You know that?" His eyes shot daggers at Robin, expressing the hurt and pain that was behind each and every word.

Robin was almost paralyzed by the vitriol his short monologue. She had no idea he carried this much pain because of her. She never intended to hurt him, she never intended to string him along. She was just trying to figure out her own screwed up mind. She couldn't look at him, and instead focused her gaze on her wringing hands as she tried to rationalize her thoughts.

"Honest. Okay, I can be honest," she finally murmured. She turned her eyes back to Barney. He deserved her honesty. "I want to love you Barney. Sometimes, I even think that I _am_ in love with you," she added, recalling her sentiments earlier that night. "But I can't just let myself go enough for that. Because, underneath it all, underneath all the chemistry, the friendship, the bro-ness, and the feelings I've developed for you, deep down, I'm really, truly, _afraid_ of you."

The look on Barney's face was unlike one Robin had ever seen before. It was horrified and disgusted and crushed all at the same time.

"Afraid … afraid? … _afraid?_" he stammered. "Why on earth would you be _afraid_ of me?"

"Because you're _Barney_," she exclaimed. "You've been so great to me throughout all of this, but this whole time I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. You've never been in a relationship with someone this long, and I keep waiting for you to run and leave me hurt. I'm petrified of it."

Their eyes met, and Robin's look of desperation met with Barney's look of disgust.

"I thought you understood me better than that, Robin. What have I ever, EVER, done to hurt you?" Barney was trying valiantly to choke down bitter tears that were stinging at the back of his eyes. How had he allowed himself to be so weak that that one word – _afraid_ – could bring him to tears?

"Nothing, Barney, but that was when we were just friends, and I –"

"Thought that somehow I'd miraculously change my opinion of you once I slept with you?" Barney interrupted. "Is that it? Because newsflash here, Robin, I _did_ change my opinion of you after I slept with you. I went from thinking of you as my best friend to thinking of you as my _girlfriend_. And it seems like I was wrong on _both_ counts now."

"No, no that's not it –"

Barney couldn't sit and continue listening to this. He had more to say. He had never been so insulted in his life. He'd done a lot of bad things over the years to a lot of women, but he thought his friends knew him better than that. He thought that Robin, of all people, knew him better than that. Jumping from the couch, and pacing around the room, he continued.

"Well guess what Robin, here's something else that you should know, since you're so _afraid_ of me," hostility was escaping from him unfiltered. He was finally allowing himself to let go of the anger and frustration he had been feeling for months.

"In my life, as you know, I've slept with over 200 women – 204 to be exact. I'm going to assume that you feel that this track record makes you justified in your _fear_." Barney really stressed the word "fear", elongating it and filling it with spite, allowing it to hang in the air momentarily for Robin's consideration.

He continued, his rage slightly more in check, "Well, here's the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. In having slept with 204 women, virtually all of them were worthless to me. They never gave me any reason to stay with them, and consequently, I had no desire to stay with them beyond one or two easy hookups. There were no _feelings_ involved. They never _challenged_ me. They never made me think that maybe, just maybe, there was more to me than being 'that guy' - that egocentric, womanizing jerk who had gotten them into the sack. They never made me face the Barney Stinson outside of that persona, and that was exactly what I wanted. My life was _awesome_. Until the one exception in those 204 women showed me that I was really just being pathetic." Barney paused, anger ebbing momentarily, as he grew aware that he had revealed some of his most deep-seeded insecurities, and was summoning his strength to reveal the deepest one of all.

"_You_ were the exception, Robin. The one exception who made me want to stay, who made me want to be a better person, yet still valued the person I was." Barney's anger began to rise once again. He practically spit out the final sentences of his monologue, the decibel levels in his voice rising, "Or so I thought. I _thought_ you were that exception, Robin. And now you're just showing how wrong I was. I mean, should I have even bothered?"

Robin stood up to face Barney. He wasn't hearing her. He wasn't understanding her. He was jumping down her throat without listening to her rationale. Now his accusations and anger were getting her blood boiling. She wasn't going to back down without a fight.

"No. No, no, no, no, Barney, you do _not_ get to play the martyr on this. I am _not _the villain here, and you do not get to do this. You're taking one little word and blowing it _completely_ out of proportion! Barney, you _know_ I'm afraid of commitment – that's a feeling you can relate to! I'm sorry your fear of commitment subsided before mine did, but you are _literally_ overreacting here."

Barney's eyes widened in surprise at Robin's counterattack. But he had one of his own. "Bullshit. I'm calling bullshit on this whole 'I'm so afraid of commitment, that's why I don't want a real relationship with Barney' crap."

"Whoa, hold on there – where do you get off doing that?"

"Two words, one name: Ted. Mosby."

"Ted? Why are you bringing Ted into our relationship?"

"Trust me, Robin, under any other circumstances I wouldn't want to," Barney chided. "But isn't it obvious why I'm bringing him into this now?" His eyes pierced at her, still angry, but perhaps not quite as violently so as before. His goal was no longer to throw daggers at her and destroy her, but to make her see his point, his side. He still loved her, after all.

But Robin wasn't playing into his hand. "No, Barney it's not. And it's not appropriate in this situation at all." Robin flopped back on the couch, defiantly, her back to him. Barney crossed the room to get nearer the couch, but did not dare to sit on it. He willed Robin's eyes to meet his, and he didn't speak again until they did. Once her eyes locked into his icy gaze, he continued, softly.

"You're not afraid of commitment, Robin. You're afraid of commitment with _me._ And, as you've already made perfectly clear tonight, you're afraid of just … me."

"So let me get this straight," Robin said, measuredly. "I want to make sure I understand you correctly here. You're saying that because I dated Ted for a year, it has something to do with our situation now?"

"Well, doesn't it?"

Robin was exasperated with Barney's line of questioning. Her relationship with Ted from two years ago had absolutely nothing to do with Barney. Nothing at all. She expected it to be thrown in her face eventually, but now that it had been, it was pretty fucking painful. Just like the rest of this argument had been painful as Barney threw around phrases like "love" and "best friend" and "girlfriend," and had basically called her a mistake. She needed to defend herself, but she was so taken aback by this whole fight that she didn't really even know how to do it. It didn't help that Barney was barely letting her get a word in edgewise.

"Barney, for godsakes, you are not Ted –"

"You're damn right I'm not Ted. I don't look like Ted and I sure as hell don't act like Ted. I'm not going to drag you up to the altar and move you to the suburbs and force you to have my 2.5 kids. That's Ted's MO, not mine. All those reasons you had to break up with Ted two years ago are exactly the reasons why you should_ not_ be afraid of me now. I don't love you for the potential you have to be the future Mrs. Stinson. I love you for the Ms. Scherbatsky you are _right now_. And if you can't see that, if you can't appreciate that, if you're still actually _afraid _of me, then Robin we need to stop this right now. Because I deserve better than to be with a woman who is actively afraid of me. I deserve better than to be with a woman who can't see past my … well, my past, and to see the person I actually am. Because the person I actually am is pretty damn awesome," he finished, with a trademark smile.

His tone had finally calmed. He had reached a state of peacefulness. He'd let it all out – all of his anxieties, his anger, and his feelings. Finally, after doing all of that, Robin's response didn't matter quite as much, because he knew he was right. If Robin couldn't understand him, then she wasn't worthy of him after all.

Robin blinked. And blinked some more. She was literally speechless. Finally something had clicked. He was right.

He was right.

She'd been going through the past three months as if Barney had to prove something to her. As if Barney wasn't really good enough for her. But he was right.

He was right.

The past three months had shown that Barney was indeed the better man here. Barney accepted Robin for who she was – all of the things about her that were quirks or inadequacies to other men, Ted included, were things that made Barney Stinson love her. Other men might have been afraid of Robin, but Barney was in love with her. Barney was right that he was nothing like Ted – and that this fundamental difference is what made Barney perfect for her.

He was right.

It was time to take the big leap.

"I love you too, Barney."

He eyed her suspiciously. It was warranted after the fight they'd just had. She tried again.

"I mean it, you know. I really do. I just get … scared, you know?"

"I know," he said, still not quite ready to let go. "You made that perfectly clear already, didn't you?"

"I didn't mean it that way. I really didn't. I guess I'm not really afraid of _you_. I'm afraid of _me._ I'm afraid of letting myself be completely and totally happy. I'm afraid of letting go. I'm afraid to just take that freaking metaphorical leap that Lily was blathering on and on about. And most of all …" she paused, glancing vulnerably at Barney, their eyes meeting tenderly for the first time in weeks.

Robin sighed, and let down her final barrier. Softly, she finished, "I'm afraid that if I open up and let you in, I'll do something to screw it up, and then we'll _both_ end up getting hurt."

Barney let the last comment process, then the devilish grin that Robin knew so well crept up on his face. "Yeahhhhh you did," he said, and extended his hand for a high five.

Robin, realizing her double entendre (only Barney would have caught it the first time through), laughed heartily, relieving the tension that had permeated the room in the past hour or so.

Barney finally crossed the threshold of space they had constructed between them, both physically and emotionally, and sat on the couch beside Robin and enveloped his arms around her.

"Scherbatsky, for the first time in my life, getting hurt is a risk I'm willing to take. Are you with me?"

She felt the tickle of his breath against the hair near her ear. She closed her eyes and recalled the thousands of touches and breaths from Barney that she had accumulated over the past three months, and realized that she wanted those to be only a tiny fraction of the number she'd accumulate in her lifetime.

"Yes," she said simply, softly. "I'm with you."

"Good," he said.

Barney continued to hold Robin in silence for a few minutes as they let themselves recover from the emotional rollercoaster they'd been on. It was Barney who finally broke the spell.

"Maybe we –," he stopped for a moment to clear his throat. "Maybe we should get downstairs. The others will be wondering what happened to us."

"Yeah, you're right," Robin said, immediately springing from his arms. "I'd better go get dressed."

Barney's hands traced Robin's arms as she left him, ending at her hands and giving them a soft, supportive squeeze. Their eyes met once more and they shared a single expression: teary, sparkling, and hopeful.

"Robin Scherbatsky, I love you."

"Barney Stinson," she said with a grin, "I love you too."

"I'd love you even more if you'd let me watch you get changed though …"

"Barney!"

***

"Ready to go, Barn?" she asked five minutes later as she grabbed her purse and headed towards the door.

"Always ready to grace MacLaren's with my awesomeness. And have you noticed, Scherbatsky, that I am _still_ wearing a suit, even though it's been consistently in the 90s and 100s for weeks on end? I hope you're ready to do that thing that you agreed to, because Labor Day is approaching faster than a runaway zamboni."

"The summer's not over just yet," she said, grinning ear to ear, pulling open the door for both of them to leave. "Hey," she pondered, stopping in the doorway and turning towards Barney, who nearly crashed into her. "What would you have done if we'd broken up?"

"For the bet?" he asked nonchalantly. He winked evilly at her as he put his hand on the small of her back to lead her down the stairs towards MacLaren's. "Well, a bet's a bet, Scherbatsky, you know that."


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**2030**

"_**So kids, that's the story of summer 2009. That was when your Uncle Marshall found the Loch Ness Monster, Uncle Barney and Aunt Robin fell in love, and I started my teaching career. It certainly marked a huge change for all of us, and took me one step closer to meeting your mom, although it did add some complications to the story."**_

"Wait Dad, hold on a second. You can't just leave this story like that. What happened the next morning when Uncle Marshall went on Aunt Robin's show?"

"_**Oh, now you want to hear more? Before, all I heard out of you two were complaints that my story was taking so long."**_

"Daaa-aaaaad"

"_**Well, to be honest, I slept through it. We were at MacLaren's really late that night…"**_

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

**2009**

"To Marshall!" Ted exclaimed, raising his fifth – or sixth – or seventh – beer high in the air. The rest of the gang raised their glasses and toasted Marshall's gutsy press statement only a few hours prior.

"Thanks guys," Marshall said, blushing a bit at all the attention. That _had_ been their fifth – or sixth – or seventh – toast of the night in his honor. And after that many beers, even Marshall was starting to feel buzzed. "I've gotta say though, it's _really_ getting late. It's already after 1am. I've got to go home and start getting ready so I'm at the show by 3. And, you know, I don't want to be _drunk_."

"Dude, I'm pretty sure that would be an improvement for the show," Barney interjected. "And yes, Scherbatsky, offense _intended_."

Robin attempted to glare at Barney, but her demeanor was too light, too jovial, to be convincing. She had a spark in her eyes that had been absent for the past few weeks. It was a spark that Barney shared. Ever since they had arrived at MacLaren's, almost two hours later than the rest of them, Ted could see that a fundamental shift had occurred between them. The awkwardness that had been present was completely gone, and replaced by an easy and comfortable rapport. This was Barney and Robin at their best, a version that Ted had seen glimmers of during the summer, but only for sporadic moments. Now this ease permeated the table, and it was instantly noticeable. Ted was happy for his friends, and was curious (albeit a bit frightened) to know what had transpired earlier that night between them that left them in this state.

Despite Barney's suggestion, Marshall, Lily, and Robin all decided to leave in order to prepare for the big newscast, leaving Ted and Barney to debate the merits of sleep vs. all nighter.

All nighter won.

For the next two hours, Ted ordered round after round of beer for him and Barney, hoping to liquor him up enough to breach the Robin topic. Usually Barney was quick to tell an interesting story, but if it was something he wanted to keep a secret, it would be nearly impossible to get a word from him on it. Case in point, Ted _still_ didn't know what Barney's job was. But it was worth a shot.

"So Barney, you and Robin seemed pretty on your A game tonight. Things are … ?"

"We're good," he said. That's it. He only said two words, but his entire body emanated happiness, giving Ted all the information that he needed. That nervous, insecure Barney that Ted had gotten used to all summer had disappeared. A paradigm shift had occurred: it was about to be a new era for Barney and Robin, and by extension, for all of them.

As a result of an extra two hours and an extra three or four beers, Ted fell asleep almost instantly upon hitting the couch cushions. Unfortunately, Barney didn't even have the presence of mind to TiVo the show so Ted could watch it in the morning.

It wasn't until a month later, when Robin lost a bet to Ted, that she grudgingly brought home a tape from the network. Finally then Ted was spared from the constant jibes from his friends for having missed this pivotal moment in Marshall's life.

Marshall appeared calm and confident as he discussed with Robin his dedication to returning Nessie to her habitat. He basically reiterated his statement from the previous night, but came off on camera as incredibly sincere and likeable. He had certainly been nervous, but it didn't show. Appearing on the show with Robin seemed to have quelled his nerves. At the end of the interview segment, Marshall appealed to environmental watchdog groups to enter the fracas in order to help save Nessie. Ted didn't know how Marshall did it, but he felt his heartstrings constrict as he watched his friend make that plea. It was that openness which made Marshall convincing to the viewers (what few viewers there were).

As it turned out, there didn't need to be many viewers. Somehow, Barney had strings pulled at GNB to have them get behind Marshall's cause. By the end of the week, Nessie was back in Loch Ness, and GNB was backing environmental organizations in order to enhance their reputation. All thanks to Marshall. Initially, he was going to leave GNB to focus on environmental causes, but since Marshall was the happy fuzzy face to the heinous corporation, they upped the ante with a gigantic raise in salary and a promotion to become an Environmental Relations Executive, or something like that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_**So by the end of Summer 2009, a lot of things had changed, but all those changes were GOOD changes. Finally, Marshall had reconciled his career and his passion, and he and Lily were stronger than ever. Barney and Robin had learned how to be in a relationship together. And I was about to start teaching my own class, and as you know, was one step closer to meeting your mother. If there's a lesson to be learned from this story, kids, it's that change isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes, it's the kick you need to get your life out of the run-of-the-mill and towards what you really want. **_

_**It did for me."**_

**Fin.**

A/N: A BIG thank you goes out to everyone who has read this and commented on it! I hope you've enjoyed it! :)


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